For nearly 16 years, Jenny Crittenden helped guide Gloucester’s Main Street Preservation Trust from its early, formative days to where it stands now as a state and nationally accredited Main Street community representing a thriving business district.

“When I reflect back on those first few days … there was no job description,” she said. Crittenden, the trust’s then-new executive director, was just “flying by the seat of [her] pants” in coming up with a program for the long-term retention and recruitment of businesses to the area.

“As the downtown developed and grew, so did I,” she said. Crittenden is now preparing to take those skills she learned during her tenure here to attract and promote businesses throughout the greater Hampton Roads region as Senior Vice President for Retail Alliance.

Retail Alliance (the Retail Merchants Association of Tidewater LLC) is a nonprofit trade association serving the interests of local retailers in Hampton Roads since 1903. Headquartered in ...