Region 2000’s executive director plans to fill Lee Cobb’s shoes

By Bryan Gentry

Published: June 8, 2008

If Lee Cobb were Obi Wan Kenobi, Bryan David would consider himself Luke Skywalker.

David said he learned a lot of lessons from Cobb — a force in the region’s economic development since 1982 — when David was the Amherst County administrator for five years. Those lessons helped prepare him to take Cobb’s place.

- Who: Ronald Bryan David
- What: New Executive Director of Region 2000’s Economic Development Council
- Age: 49
- Family: Wife Jamie; three daughters: 12-year-old twins Anne and Mary Paige and 10-year old Lanie.
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in political science from Hampden-Sydney College (1982); Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Commonwealth University (1990)
- Former jobs: Director of Planning and Zoning (Isle of Wight County), Administrator (Brunswick County, Amherst County, King George County)
- Hobbies: Hiking and camping with family

David became executive director of Region 2000’s Economic Development Council on April 19, when Cobb retired after five years at the helm.

The two worked together in reorganizing the Region 2000 partnership and starting Amherst County’s economic development program.

“Over the course of time, I was able to understand Lee’s perspective and how he conducted economic development, and how he saw the potential of this region,” David said.

“He was able to identify the ingredients … that made this region competitive.”

Those ingredients include a diverse economy, a growing technology sector, a commitment to workforce development, and a good quality of life. David plans to stay the course and focus on those points to grow the region’s economy.

David grew up in Richmond. He graduated in 1982 from Hampden-Sydney College with a political science degree.

In 1990, he obtained a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Virginia Commonwealth University and went to work for county governments.

After working for Isle of Wight and Brunswick counties, he was the Amherst County administrator from 2000 to 2005. Since then, he has been administrator for King George County.

In all of those positions, economic development was a key focus for him due to his planning background.

An area’s jobs and economy are fundamental to creating a successful community where people want to live, he said.

“It’s not that the communities that I’ve been in did not have a lot to offer businesses, or did not have a high standard of living,” David said. But “a formalized approach, a more value-added approach was needed. I felt that was a fundamental need.”

In Isle of Wight’s planning department, he helped create industrial sites to attract businesses. Brunswick County faced problems of no employment base, so David focused on preparing the community’s infrastructure for growth.

Amherst County already had an industrial park when David was hired as administrator. However, there was no economic development authority.

“He was the one who started the EDA,” said Amherst County supervisor Leon Parrish. “That was one of his projects.”

Parrish said the EDA has been helpful to the county the past several years since it can do things the board of supervisors can’t — such as issue financing to companies.

Cobb, the former Lynchburg city economic development director, was working as an independent consultant and he helped David establish the county’s EDA and set the course for the program. That helped get Duckhead Shoes to move into the Amelon Commerce Park in Madison Heights.

In 2003, David sat on the committee that hired Cobb as executive director for the Region 2000 Economic Development Council.

Now that he’s in that position himself, David said he will focus on the council’s current work plan and workforce development.

He said the region needs a “readymade” workforce to allow for new and existing companies to expand.

A major focus of that is education. Another component requires recruiting individuals to come and live in the region, or to come back to the region.

David is in a unique position to do that because he’s among the number of those who left and decided to come back.

In 2005, his family moved to King George County, near Fredericksburg. David was excited to become administrator of one of Virginia’s fastest-growing counties. But that came at a price.

He grew tired of the urban traffic, the fast pace, the high cost of living, and the few opportunities for outdoor recreation.

“There’s a tradeoff that professionals … make if they weren’t originally from there, but relocate there,” David said.

“They’re making a trade-off because of livability … your life outside of work was not all that desirable.”

When they learned that Cobb was retiring, his family saw it as an opportunity to regain the lifestyle they had here.

“We firmly believe that this is the best place for our family to live,” he said. “As well we can realize whatever professional success we could elsewhere.”

“That story is one we definitely want to capitalize on … and tell people outside this region that, frankly, they can have it all.”