Washington County Economic Alliance Announces New Executive Director
May 2, 2023
Contact: Hillary Boggs
Email: hboggs@wceams.com
PRESS RELEASE
Washington County Economic Alliance Announces New Executive Director
Greenville, MS, May 2, 2023: A Coalition of local employers and organizations are announcing Justin Archer Burch as the new executive director of the Washington County Economic Alliance. Burch is a nationally known community and economic developer whom for the last six years has served as the economic development director for Rural Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) across all 50 states and two U.S. territories. Burch is a native Mississippian and a graduate of the University of Mississippi.
“We are fortunate to have Justin Burch join the Washington County Economic Alliance (WCEA) as our executive director,” said Parker England, Chairman of the WCEA. “With his wealth of experience, proven record of leadership, and passion for the Mississippi Delta, Justin is a natural fit to lead the WCEA. We have full confidence that the WCEA will thrive under Justin’s leadership and, by extension, so will Washington County.”
Burch holds credentials from Harvard University in Leadership Management, Princeton University in Domestic Policy, the Lily Family School at Purdue University in Nonprofit Management, the University of Tennessee in Strategic Planning for Economic Development, and is a graduate of both the Community Development Institute at the University of Central Arkansas and the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma.
Prior to joining Rural LISC, Burch was the program director of the Delta Regional Authority covering all eight Delta states for the Federal Economic Development Commission and was the director of Community Development at the Foundation for the Mid South which covers Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
Burch is a national W.K. Kellogg Community Network Leadership Fellow, Delta Entrepreneurship Fellow, and holds certifications in asset management, small economic development, economic development financing, evaluation & logistics models, diversity awareness, emergency management disaster assistance, creative placemaking, and project management.
Burch has won numerous awards for his efforts in economic development to include the National Fund for Workforce Solutions Systems Change Award, and he has served on numerous boards to include the Alliance for Rural Impact, the Southern Rural Development Center, the University of Arkansas Medical School Consortium Board, the Aspen Institute Community Strategies Board, the Delta Philanthropic Steering Committee, the Appalachia Funder’s Network Equity Committee, and the Jobs for the Future Southern Equity Commission.
“In this moment when all Delta residents share a common aspiration to improve greater economic opportunity, I am happy to join the Washington County Economic Alliance in visioning greater prosperity for Washington County and the Delta at large. Greenville is still the heart of the Mississippi Delta and remains the gateway for industry and regional prosperity,” Burch said.
Justin Archer Burch will begin his new role on June 1st and will be joined by his wife, Cameryn Miller Burch, whose family also has Mid-South Delta development ties. She is the granddaughter of the late Charles Miller Sr. who through regional acquisitions, including in the Mississippi Delta, was an original founder of Alltel Wireless. Justin and Cameryn have two children, Catherine Lawrence and Archer Burch, and look forward to building a stronger Washington County.