Venture Richmond’s Jack Berry a quiet force for the city

John F. "Jack" Berry is all about being local.

He sells Richmond to locals, hoping to draw them downtown and make the city a vital place to live, play and work.

"I'm interested in getting people to rent or buy in downtown, work in downtown, eat in downtown," said Berry, 55.

As executive director of Venture Richmond, Berry's mission is to promote Richmond through economic development, marketing, festivals and events.

The public-private agency also is responsible for managing the riverfront canal, cleaning sidewalks and supporting moves to enhance the area's business climate.

It is the force behind Friday Cheers, the 2nd Street Festival, Easter on Parade along Monument Avenue and the Richmond Folk Festival, which last year drew more than 180,000 people during three days.

"He's focused on really moving downtown to the next level," said Carthan Currin, the city's economic-development director. "He's always looking to the future."

Colleagues say Berry is even-handed, reserved, has a quiet confidence and chooses his words carefully, based on homework and grounded in assessment.

"He certainly does not beat around the bush, and he's known for that," said Lisa Sims, director of events at Venture Richmond. "It's one of his great qualities."

He's a gentleman as well.

"If he doesn't have constructive criticism to express, he just doesn't say anything," Currin said. "In some ways, he's been a Dutch uncle to me, someone I could trust, go to for advice."

One reason for that is Berry knows well the pressures of civil service, Currin said.

In 1978, he came to Richmond for a job with the city as a budget analyst. Within five years, he was named budget director. Then he went on to become deputy city manager in 1987.

Four years later, Berry left the city to become Hanover County's administrator. He stayed there for 6½ years before joining Richmond Renaissance in 1998 to market the city and promote economic development.

In 2006, Venture Richmond was created with the merger of four downtown groups -- Richmond Renaissance, City Celebrations, River District Alliance and Richmond Riverfront Corp. Corporate contributions, special assessments and contracts with the city of Richmond fund Venture Richmond. It also receives sponsorships for its events.

Berry became the new entity's executive director when the groups merged.

"In my view, they could not have picked a better candidate to take the responsibility on," Currin said. "Jack is a workhorse, not a show horse."

And he knows how to work the system without it working him.

"He's worked in politics most of his life," said Gregory H. Wingfield, president and CEO of the Greater Richmond Partnership, a regional-economic development agency. "He kind of knows the lay of the land and the players."

Growing up in Lynchburg, Berry learned about community service from his late father, who was an assistant city manager there. His father worked in Lynchburg city government for about 30 years.

Interestingly, his father's first job was as a budget analyst for Richmond -- the same as his first job.

"I saw the opportunities he had to make a difference in his community, and I was impressed by that," he said of his father.

. . .

This city salesman has a love of nature.

While he publicly promotes the River City, Berry has a solitary, reflective side as well.

He built a 17-foot wooden sea kayak and is paddling toward one goal: seeing all 14 barrier islands off the eastern coast of Virginia with a few college buddies. He's been to half.

"The islands are absolutely pristine," he said. "We've seen living starfish, live conch. We've seen a whale washed up on a beach. There's very little evidence of any people or any impacts of human development."

He also volunteers to watch over a log cabin in the Shenandoah National Park for the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. He's in charge of maintaining the cabin -- it's one room, with no electricity or running water -- and he spends one weekend every two months there doing chores.

"I like to be alone in the woods," he said. It allows him to listen to music close to his heart.

He also is an avid tennis player, playing since childhood. He plays in U.S. Tennis Association leagues year-round.

His Senior 3.5 Men's Team at the Willow Oaks Country Club won the mid-Atlantic championship this month. The team goes to California to compete for the national championship next month.

He has been on several local and state championship teams over the years but has never won a regional competition that qualified him and his team for the national championship.

"I've been trying to get to nationals for 20 years," he said.

. . .

He and his wife, Katherine, had two children.

The eldest, John, 24, is a senior financial analyst for Dominion Resources Inc. The youngest, Brooks, died in 2006 at age 17 after complications from a fall.

Brooks, a student at Benedictine High School at the time of his death, was an accomplished musician. "I go up there [to the cabin in Shenandoah National Park] and listen to the recordings of my son's music," Berry said.

His late son also introduced Berry to the Dave Matthews Band many years ago. "I am now a groupie and attend several of their concerts every year."

Berry wears a bracelet given to him by Brooks' classmates that reads "a brother never forgotten."

Berry just started serving on an ethics committee for Richmond-based United Network for Organ Sharing.

Brooks' organs were donated after he died. Two years later, the family received word from the recipient of his son's pancreas and liver.

"It helps obviously the recipient," Berry said, "but it is also a lifeline to the donor family who are desperate for something positive to result from the death of a family member."

Contact Emily C. Dooley at (804) 649-6016 or .