Highland County Hires New Chamber of Commerce Director

Monterey, VA – The Highland County Chamber of Commerce has a new executive director, Monterey resident Tim O’Roark. He is stepping into the position at a crucial point in time, just when the Chamber and the Highland County Economic Development Authority are looking to finalize a county tourism plan. Mr. O’Roark and his wife June were residents of Monterey from 2005 to 2007 and are delighted to be back in Highland County. He talks about his background and growing up in northern Virginia.

He grew up in Arlington, Virginia and after marrying his wife, they lived in Maryland for a number of years. The O’Roark’s travels then took them to North Carolina and the Outer Banks area. He worked for a realtor for a while, then got involved with the Outer Banks visitors board and the Dare County tourism board.

The O’Roarks had discovered Highland County through friends from Warrenton, who had a house in the Pines area north of Monterey. They liked it so much they bought a house in Monterey in 2004 and became full-time residents in December, 2005. They stayed until 2007 and then moved away for a few years.

Just a few months ago Mr. O’Roark heard about the job search at the Chamber of Commerce and submitted an application. Several weeks ago he was offered the job and started work in late September. He goes on to talk about his first weeks on the job.

“We have tried to attend a number of different meetings to learn more about thei different aspects of the county and the different things the Chamber is involved with” says O’Roark.

Mr. O’Roark continues by talking about his focus for the rest of the year.

“As far as changes, probably no major changes in a short period of time” he says. “Again, I don’t believe in making changes until I’ve really had a chance to learn and assess where we are and what’s going on.”

Highland County is fortunate to have found a Chamber of Commerce director with Mr. O’Roark’s experience. Former Chamber director Carolyn Pohowsky will continue working on special projects for the county and has promised to help coordinate one more Maple Festival next spring.

Story By

Heather Niday

Heather is our Program Director and Traffic Manager. She started with Allegheny Mountain Radio as a volunteer deejay. She then joined the AMR staff in February of 2007. Heather grew up in the Richmond, Virginia, area and now lives in Arbovale, West Virginia with her husband Chuck. Heather is a wonderful flute player, and choir director for Arbovale UMC. You can hear Heather along with Chuck on Tuesday nights from 6 to 8pm as they host two hours of jazz on Something Different.

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