Since 2011, Marc Nelson has worked for the City of Roanoke’s economic development department. He began his role with the City of Roanoke as a special projects coordinator, was promoted to economic development manager in 2019, and became director of economic development in 2021. Before he moved to Roanoke, he worked as a budget analyst for the North Carolina Office of State Budget & Management and as a development services coordinator and liaison for the City of Savannah, Georgia. Nelson has a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s in public administration from the University of North Carolina.

1. What made you interested in working in public administration?

After I graduated from college, I worked for a couple of years and then spent a year in law school. Where I went to law school, they were very focused on the private sector, big firms, and generating money. It wasn’t something I wanted to do for my career. I was searching for different solutions, and a good friend who was the Wake County manager in Raleigh, NC, suggested I look into public service. I looked at a couple of public administration programs, and I felt very gratified when I made the decision to get a master’s and focus on public administration.

2. What do you like most about working for the City of Roanoke?

I love that I get to work with a great team. We have an exceptional group of people in economic development. The idea that you can work across lines and cover all different kinds of things, from public safety and public works to accounting, juvenile intake, and libraries is something I really enjoy. There is a spectrum of ways you can make an impact in our organization.

3. What projects are you currently working on in the City of Roanoke?

We received $7.5 million through the Virginia Business Ready Sites program to develop a site at the Roanoke Center for Industry & Technology. Roanoke is short on major sites, and we struggle to find 50-100 available acres. This project is an opportunity to develop. We’re going to put $2.5 million of our own match in for a $10 million cost to build an 82-acre site in a very successful industrial park. I’m proud of that because when I first started the job, projects like this were on my list and something I wanted to make sure we accomplished.

4. Can you share a memorable project or achievement from your career?

We are currently working with the Corporate Research Center, Virginia Tech, Roanoke Blacksburg Innovation Alliance, Virginia Western Community College, and Carilion Clinic on a project to build out wet and dry lab space in the region. A lot of companies in the region spin out and need a place to land but struggle to advance due to a shortage of lab space. We had a couple of different studies done and went through the GO Virginia process. We went to the legislature, lobbied, and received $15.7 million to renovate a property we identified in Roanoke for wet and dry labs. We’re undergoing construction now, and we’re out recruiting companies. That was a big achievement. That was something where you set a goal, and you actively had to do the work to reach it. I really enjoyed that.

5. What do you enjoy most about being a member of CECE’s advisory board?

By being on the board, I get to have a connection, not just to the larger university community, but to the state as a whole. That’s one of the great things about what CECE does. There’s a larger world that CECE is involved in, both in community engagement and economic development, that from my standpoint in one city, I don’t necessarily see. By being on the CECE board, I get a greater understanding of what’s going on in other places and how I can help the university and other areas of the commonwealth.

6. What is the best advice you ever received?

Look for the yes-and propositions. All or nothing leads to a short career.

7. What’s a book you read recently that you would recommend?

Right now, I’m reading a book called What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami. The author is both an avid marathon runner and a writer. He talks about how the dedication and the commitment he puts into running is something that carries over to all aspects of his life, including his work as a novelist. He writes in a very direct fashion. It’s very Hemingway-esque, in the sense that it packs a lot of detail into very few words and sentences. The book is helpful because it informs how a passion you have for something in your life can help other passions you have in your life flower, and I think that’s valuable. As someone who does Brazilian jiu-jitsu, I relate to the messages the book shares.

8. What is the most memorable place you have ever visited?

Mahatma Gandhi Park in Chickmagalur, India. I went on a five-week trip to India when I was working in Savannah as part of a rotary club exchange trip where young professionals had the opportunity to travel to other countries. We were in Southwest India in a state called Karnataka. We went up to a hill overlooking the entire city. The population in that city is about 30-40% Muslim, and from the top of the hill, you could hear all five of the mosques call for prayer at the same time. I’ve never experienced harmonic convergence like that in my whole life, where you hear music coming from every direction. It was 15 years ago, and I still remember it very clearly.