MEET OUR TEAM
RIC CAVENDER, CEDFP
Executive Director
Ric is the Executive Director of Charleston Main Streets, the city’s community & economic development agency focused on the East End and West Side Urban business districts. Since the programs' inceptions, the districts have experienced public and private investments totaling over $420 million. A native West Virginian and Charlestonian, Ric has a combined 19 years of nonprofit and business development experience. Ric holds a Bachelors in Business Management & Marketing from West Virginia State University. He is the current Chairman of the Board of Directors of the YMCA of Kanawha Valley, a former member of the West Virginia State University Foundation Board and was elected to the Kanawha County Board of Education in 2016.
Ric is a 2015 graduate of Leadership West Virginia and was honored as a Generation Next 40 Under 40 award winner in 2010. Ric sits on the Economic Development Committee of the Regional Intergovernmental Council, serves on the Marketing Committees of the Charleston Convention & Visitors Bureau and FestivALL Charleston, serves on the Charleston Wayfinding Commission, and serves on the Statewide Abandoned Properties Coalition, the group that worked together to advocate for the State Historic Tax Credit bill. In 2018, Ric was selected as an Emerging Leader Fellow through the International Downtown Association, where he spent a week in New York City with his fellow cohorts studying urban development and Business Improvement Districts with people from across the globe.
Ric is a 2015 graduate of Leadership West Virginia and was honored as a Generation Next 40 Under 40 award winner in 2010. Ric sits on the Economic Development Committee of the Regional Intergovernmental Council, serves on the Marketing Committees of the Charleston Convention & Visitors Bureau and FestivALL Charleston, serves on the Charleston Wayfinding Commission, and serves on the Statewide Abandoned Properties Coalition, the group that worked together to advocate for the State Historic Tax Credit bill. In 2018, Ric was selected as an Emerging Leader Fellow through the International Downtown Association, where he spent a week in New York City with his fellow cohorts studying urban development and Business Improvement Districts with people from across the globe.
ADAM STOLLINGS
Associate Executive Director
Adam is a West Virginia native from Chapmanville, WV where he attended Chapmanville High School and still resides. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration (2013) and Master of Business Administration (2014) from the University of Charleston. Adam is currently seeking a Doctorate of Business Administration from Liberty University. Adam works in collaboration with the CMS program committees to produce Foam at the Dome, Hops & Heat, HallowEast, and OktoberWest, among many other destination events, with a focus on helping make Charleston a destination. He currently serves on the FestivALL Productions Committee and Live on the Levee committee.
