RADFORD - Becky Haupt, who has lived from one end of the country to the other before choosing Radford as her home, will become the new executive director of Main Street Radford in April.

Haupt is already familiar with the organization. She started out as a Main Street volunteer nine years ago, became one of its committee chairs and wound up on its board of directors. "I've been doing a lot of volunteer work," she said Monday. "It'll be great. I'll be getting paid for doing something I love."

"We interviewed quite a few candidates and chose the one candidate that we feel stood out among the rest," said Stacey Price, a Main Street board member who owns the Encore gift shop on Radford's Main Street. "We feel Becky will bring the experience and knowledge to this position that MSR needs at this stage."

Haupt, 36, now works at Bondurant Realty. Before that, she worked part-time with The Jason Foundation and, earlier still, managed Encore Artful Gifts when it was owned by Carolee Bondurant and before Price bought the shop.

Haupt was born in Cleveland but soon found herself living in New York City and spent most of her school years in Washington, D.C. She graduated from high school in Northern Virginia, then moved with her family to California.

She earned a degree in psychology from Radford University, "the longest I ever lived in one spot," she said.

She returned to D.C. and worked about four years with a company which did subcontracting work for the U.S. Department of Defense. She decided to come back to Radford and get her graduate degree in psychology in 1994. After that, she never left.

"It's really my home town now. I love it," she said.

Haupt succeeds Amanda Dye, who has been Main Street's director since mid-2003 and will join the new Center for Regional Studies office at Virginia Tech in April.

The Main Street director is a liaison among the city's business community, government and other segments of the community.