UVA Wise Announces New Associate Vice Chancellor of Community and Economic Development

UVA Wise welcomes Randall Rose, a seasoned economic and community development leader who has served Southwest Virginia for nearly 20 years, as its new associate vice chancellor for community and economic development.

A Tazewell native, Rose has always had a strong passion for envisioning and cultivating opportunities in Southwest Virginia.  During his extensive career, Rose has worked at the local, regional and state levels of economic and community revitalization as well as tourism, workforce and educational development and higher education.

In this new role, Rose will coordinate UVA Wise’s economic, community and entrepreneur development programs. He will foster existing and new partnerships in the region and will also have a role in creating educational programs to bolster the region’s workforce pipeline.

Rose, who joined the College in early January, is already getting out into the community to learn about needs, identify opportunities and provide support to businesses, entrepreneurs, community organizations and government entities. 

“Randall’s decades of experience in local communities, across the Commonwealth, and in diverse roles in economic and tourism development combined with his expertise in higher education, management and workforce solutions made him the perfect fit for UVA Wise to promote growth in Southwest Virginia,” said Shannon Blevins vice chancellor for administration, government relations and strategic initiatives at UVA Wise. “We are thrilled to have his leadership, vision and experience for UVA Wise and our partners in the region.” 

Rose holds an associate degree in accounting from Southwest Virginia Community College, a bachelor’s degree in business and organizational management from Bluefield College and a master’s degree in executive leadership from Liberty University.

“I really love the region and missed the community and economic development work that has been the center of my career. I wanted to find a job where I could work and enjoy all this beautiful region has to offer including so many great outdoor recreational opportunities. This job allows me to get back to the work I enjoy the most and am most enthusiastic about,” Rose said. 

For nearly 14 years, Rose held several positions at the Virginia Tourism Corporation—the state’s tourism agency. He eventually served as the statewide director of planning and development. In that role, he facilitated numerous local and regional tourism planning initiatives, including ones within the Southwest Virginia region.  He also managed a statewide development team while collaborating with a wide variety of tourism industry partners, businesses, entrepreneurs and government officials. 

Rose then joined the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), the Commonwealth’s economic development agency, as the workforce business manager, focusing on talent solutions for prosect companies and existing businesses in Southwest Virginia. He coordinated VEDP workforce assistance for the region including supporting existing and new businesses of various sizes. In that role, he was a liaison to workforce training partners, programs and educational institutions.  He also was the coordinator for the Virginia Jobs Investment Program, which is an incentive-per-job program that supports workforce training for eligible Virginia businesses.

Next, Rose chose to bring his wealth of economic development expertise to higher education. He joined Southwest Virginia Community College as its dean of workforce and continuing education where he worked with the employers, industries and other economic stakeholders to ensure programs for a strong workforce pipeline. Most recently, he served as the College’s vice president of finance and administration where he oversaw the College’s business office, operations, campus police department, and information technology program. 

“The dean position allowed me to see multiple sides of workforce development and how it is key to economic development. It’s really come full circle with my new position here at UVA Wise,” Rose said.

Rose said its crucial to support the great economic development work already being done by local towns, counties, and cities, through the building of professional development and workforce training programs.

“We want to be in tune with all of those efforts to best support the pipeline of student talent coming out of UVA Wise and make sure our students have opportunities in all sectors of our region. Whether they start their own business or work with existing business or in emerging industries like tourism and hospitality, we want to make sure we are providing the education and connections where students can excel and thrive.”

Rose was drawn to UVA Wise because of its unique role and longstanding success in the region as an important facilitator of economic and community development. He already has some experience working alongside College partners like the Clinch River Valley Initiatives and Opportunity SWVA when they were in their infancy.

One of the biggest challenges, Rose said, is ensuring everyone—individuals, community members, start-up entrepreneurs, businesses—know about the opportunities, programs and resources available at UVA Wise. 

I worry about the entrepreneur or business who could have been far more successful or who wouldn’t have located their operations elsewhere if they would have been connected to existing programs and assistance at UVA Wise and beyond,” Rose said. “It’s really about making sure we let everyone know there is great momentum and strong resources to support business growth in Southwest Virginia. We are dedicated to help this region grow and thrive.”

Early in his community and economic development career, he was often asked “if he was working with UVA Wise or knew what they were doing” because of their great work in the region, he said. 

“This was my opportunity to be part of that great work. I feel like I’ve always worked alongside UVA Wise throughout my career in some form or fashion. UVA Wise is the premier college of Southwest Virginia. So to be able to work for a signature educational institution that is a leader in community and economic development at this level is just phenomenal. It’s really exciting for me to be a part of that future,” he said.