Office of Outdoor Economic Development
P.O. Box 2514 Beckley, WV, 25802 | Office Phone: 304-256-1750
If you have any questions about the comprehensive planning update, please contact Corey Lilly. Contact information below:
Director Contact Information:
Email: Corey.Lilly@Beckley.org
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 2514 Beckley, WV, 25802
Office Phone: 304-256-1750
Departments
Director: Corey Lilly
Office Mission: To ignite and grow the outdoor sector of the economy and community within and around the City of Beckley as the hub of the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.
The OED office leads the City’s Beckley Outdoors Initiative and updating Beckley’s 10-year Comprehensive Plan
To learn more about the Beckley Outdoors Initiative please visit www.BeckleyOutdoors.com
Bio:
Widely recognized as one of the top professional adventure athletes in West Virginia, Lilly has led whitewater expeditions across the globe, toured as a professional skier, and is a competent climber, mountain biker, & outdoorsman. Before turning 18, Lilly received his first international sponsorship for adventure athletics from Elan Skis. After touring the USA as a professional skier, Lilly switched his focus to whitewater becoming one of the most recognized professional kayakers for his multiple first descents in North America and for receiving the President’s Award from the American Canoe Association for his heroic efforts in the “Midnight Miracle Rescue” at Kanawha Falls in 2020— dubbed “The Most Miraculous Whitewater Rescue in the past 50 years of Swiftwater”.
Outside of athletics, Lilly is a 10th-generation West Virginian whose family operated the Lilly-Brooke Coal Company. After completing his undergraduate at WVU, Lilly returned to the New River Gorge area as Executive Director of Piney Creek Watershed Association. Today, as a veteran of the outdoor recreation industry, he works to lead his hometown of Beckley to develop outdoor sector of the economy as Director of the Beckley’s Office of Outdoor Economic Development. Lilly has a unique approach to economic development by repurposing past coal mining sites as outdoor recreation hubs, rebranding the city, and leading comprehensive downtown redevelopment planning to attract and retain remote working talent, celebrate cultural heritage, serve visiting tourists, and drive traffic to small, local businesses.