Pulaski County Tourism Introduces New Director

Following the retirement of county tourism trailblazer, Peggy White, Pulaski County is proud to announce and introduce its new Tourism Director, Erika Tolbert.

A Pulaski County High School and Radford University graduate, Tolbert is no stranger to the area as she has lived in the county all her life. As a high school and college student, Tolbert took an interest in organizational communication and media studies. In 2006, Tolbert graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in communication.

Early in her career, Tolbert began to build her, now, extensive resume with the City of Radford’s tourism department and the American Cancer Society.

In 2014, Tolbert earned a job at New River Community College working in the Educational Foundation to manage events, fundraising, and the Access to Community College Education (ACCE) program. In this role, Tolbert flourished and utilized her creativity to forever enhance students’ experiences at the college.

Tolbert coordinated events such as the Annual Scholarship Brunch, which allowed scholarship donors to meet scholarship awardees. Along with exciting events, she also organized ACCE fundraisers across the New River Valley and worked within its communities to spread awareness about the opportunities it provides.

“My time working with the NRCC Educational Foundation not only allowed me to help students achieve their higher education and career goals, but also provided many opportunities to work with industries and organizations throughout the community,” said Tolbert.

On June 15, Tolbert officially assumed her role as Assistant Tourism Director under then Tourism Director, Peggy White. For the next month and a half, Tolbert stepped in and worked alongside White on large projects such as the SRX racing series, Pulaski County Family Night at the New River Valley Fair, the Phone Booth Guideries across the county, and more.

August 1, marked Tolbert’s first official day as Tourism Director. Tolbert stated, “The role of Tourism Director for Pulaski County is an honor. Virginia tourism is a $30.3 billion industry and Pulaski County has countless amenities to offer residents and visitors to grow that number even more. I’m thrilled to be in a position that allows me to promote and share the county’s features with the rest of the world.”

“We are extremely pleased to officially have Erika in place as the Tourism Director, and she has definitely hit the ground in full stride with the variety and volume of tourism related programs, projects and initiatives we are actively engaged in”, stated Jonathan D. Sweet, County Administrator. “Erika has tremendously big shoes to fill with Peggy’s retirement, but we are confident that she will keep up the intensity and employ the creativity that has become a hallmark of our Tourism Department, and like most, I can’t wait to see where Pulaski County Tourism goes next.”