Whitney Bonham
Economic Development Specialist

Whitney joined OED in April 2009 as an Economic Development Specialist.  In this role, her responsibilities include design, development, and implementation of applied research and technical assistance projects to service the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Whitney’s areas of interest include industry and occupational analysis, regional development, fiscal and operational analysis of public infrastructure service systems, and policy analysis. Examples of her work include an industry and labor market analysis for the Alleghany Highlands region, and analysis of the stringed-instrument builders (luthiers) in Southwestern Virginia.

Prior to joining OED in her current role, Whitney served as the Management Fellow for the City of Savannah, GA where worked for the Assistant City Manager for Public Development on a variety of issues related to entrepreneurship, industrial and labor market analysis, public art, and property maintenance and zoning.  Whitney also possesses several pre-career experiences which contributed significantly to her professional development.  During her graduate school experience, she worked as a graduate intern for Smyth County, Virginia and is a former Graduate Assistant for the Virginia Tech Office of Economic Development.  As an undergraduate, she served as an intern to both the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia, and the Hon. James C. Turk, Senior US District Court Judge, Western District of Virginia.

Whitney received a Master’s in Public Administration and Graduate Certificate in Economic Development from Virginia Tech in 2008. She completed her Bachelor’s in Political Science and History from Roanoke College in 2005. 

Phone: (540) 231-8891
Fax: (540) 231-8850
Email: wbonh06@vt.edu

For more information on how Virginia Tech can help to improve the performance of your organization, contact:

Virginia Tech
Office of Economic Development
702 University City Blvd. (Mail Code 0373)
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Phone (540) 231-5278
Fax (540) 231-8850
E-mail econdev@vt.edu