President & CEO, Advantage Valley, Inc.
By Megan Bevins
When considering her future career, Advantage Valley President and CEO Terrell Ellis had one goal in mind: to help communities or people in need. After discovering the urban affairs degree while studying at Virginia Tech, it became clear that community development was the right path for her.
Ellis grew up in Falls Church, VA, and witnessed first-hand the ups and downs of entrepreneurship through her parents, who were both business owners. Her first leap into the workforce was lifeguarding at a local pool, followed by cashiering at the high-end men’s clothing store Britches of Georgetown.
Ellis moved to West Virginia after graduating from college and, after some time helping her fiancé run his downtown Charleston restaurant, joined the Charleston Renaissance Corporation as its first executive director. She lead the organization in its efforts to improve the declining central business district, which suffered due to the opening of the Charleston Town Center Mall.
“My job with Charleston Renaissance taught me so much, including the power of public-private partnerships to accomplish big things, that private sector leadership is critical to the success of any community’s real progress toward revitalization, that collaboration among organizations will yield quicker results than the go-it-alone strategy and the importance of pushing the envelope to effectuate real change,” Ellis says.
These roles, along with her experience as state Main Street coordinator for the West Virginia Department of Economic Development and owner of her own economic and community development consulting firm, Terrell Ellis & Associates, equipped her with the skills to take on her current role at Advantage Valley. Here, she leads efforts to promote investment and growth in the Charleston and Huntington Metro Areas.
“We are one regional economy and need to market ourselves as such,” Ellis says. “Our competition is not with each other, but rather we are competing within a global economy, and our vision is to position the region to aggressively compete at that level.”
Ellis oversees the team that manages marketing and business attraction, business retention and entrepreneurial development programs and site development efforts. The team has also recently started taking on the rising challenges in housing, child care, transportation and workforce development.
Pointing out the importance of partnerships, Ellis says she also spends a lot of time building and maintaining those partnerships, designing collaborations and securing resources.
“Our work is done in partnership with county economic development authorities, educational institutions, local governments and the private sector,” she says. “Because of these partnerships, we have leveraged millions of federal and philanthropic dollars into the region to build our capacity and offer the most competitive business climate in the state.”
Ellis also devotes much of her time to initiatives that have a positive impact on the community and protect scenic and historical resources. She currently volunteers with various organizations, including the Charleston Sternwheel Regatta, Elk River Trail Foundation, Goodwill Industries of the Summit, Kanawha Huntington Area Development Council and West Virginia Land Stewardship Corporation. She also contributes annually to several local organizations.
Ellis names James R. Thomas, the first chairman of the Charleston Renaissance board, and a national consultant she had the chance to work with as important mentors to her. She also impacts others through her own mentorship. Her guidance extends to young people in her profession, aspiring entrepreneurs and her own staff who she empowers to be the best program leaders possible.
Though proud of her career accomplishments, Ellis says her four daughters, who are all successful in their own right, give her the most pride.
Ellis hopes to give back as much as possible and has an ultimate goal of leaving her chosen community better than she found it.
“The state is small and close-knit and it’s easy to get involved, and if making a difference is important to you, there is ample opportunity to do so,” she says.
