Its line now firmly hooked to chumming quality of life amenities as prime bait for economic development, the Roanoke Valley Economic Development Partnership announced Tuesday it has a new leader.

Beginning March 3, Beth Doughty, 53, will be the partnership's executive director. Her new digs will be but a brief walk from her current office at the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, where she has been president since 1999.

Phil Sparks, former executive director, remains as assistant director for business development.

Doughty's move has a certain circularity. She was executive director for RVEDP from 1992 to 1999. Rumors that she would return in this new role circulated months ago.

On Tuesday, Doughty said she needed board permission to disclose what her new annual salary will be at the partnership, which is supported by both private and public funding.

A funding campaign last year raised more than $6.5 million to support the partnership's exploration of new paths.

Doughty worked for the partnership when its primary focus was industrial and commercial recruitment, a traditional approach RVEDP will continue as one avenue for economic development.

But Bob Lawson, president of RVEDP's board, said the board believes Doughty is up-to-date with current trends.

"I think she is very creative," said Lawson, retired president and chief executive officer of SunTrust Bank, Western Virginia. "I think she's current with what's going on in the world of economic development."

Doughty offered a similar comment.

"I'm up to speed with what's going on in the industry," she said.

The partnership is ready to occupy economic development's "cutting edge," she said, instead of "following along with what's been going on for years and years."

Today's conventional wisdom among many economic developers suggests that potentially high-income workers, entrepreneurs and even established companies base their relocation decisions on such things as cultural amenities, recreational opportunities, diversity in race, ethnicity and sexual preference, affordable housing and other measures of a region's livability.

Richard Florida, an oft-quoted and nationally known economic development consultant, has persuaded many cities to embrace campaigns to improve quality of life measures as a way to stimulate economic growth. Sabine O'Hara, former president of Roanoke College, is another quality-of-lifer.

In November, when RVEDP announced its strategic reorganization, it emphasized that the region's stagnant population growth was hobbling economic prosperity for the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Now, in addition to continued efforts to recruit and retain industries and businesses, the partnership will try to lure high-end retailers, encourage downtown development, support cultural amenities, emphasize outdoor recreation in the region and nurture and tout other regional measures of quality of life.

The partnership serves the cities of Roanoke, Salem and Covington, the town of Vinton and the counties of Alleghany, Botetourt, Craig, Franklin and Roanoke.

Lawson said the executive director search lasted about six months. He said he did not know how many other applicants were considered serious candidates or how many actually visited Roanoke for interviews.

He referred those questions to Victor Iannello, who was chairman of the search committee. Iannello could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Joyce Waugh, vice president of public policy for the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, will be the chamber's interim director.