by JoBeth Wampler
Staff Reporter 
  James Keen will serve as interim town manager in Grundy.
  The decision was made last Tuesday at a regularly scheduled meeting of the Grundy Town Council, when council returned from an hour-long closed session to vote in Keen as the town's new leader.
  Rebecca Elkins made the motion to retain the services of Keen at the specified wages of $25,219.59 with a starting date of April 1.
  Town Attorney Tom Mullins emphasized the fact that a permanent position will be re-advertised at a later date.
  Diann Hagy seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
  Keen  is the retired manager of human resources for Jewell Smokeless and is currently a member of the Virginia Commonwealth Transportation Board. He is also the president-elect of the Buchanan County Chamber of Commerce – a role he will also assume in April this year.
  "I see it as an important and challenging job in terms of the potential growth the town has in its near future," Keen said of the town post during a telephone interview this week. "I'll be looking forward to offering all that I can to see that the job gets done."
  Keen, who is originally from Whitewood, currently resides in the Deel area of Grundy with his wife of 38 years Jackie.
  After graduating Whitewood High School in 1964, he enrolled at Pikeville College.
  When he graduated in 1968 with a Bachelor's Degree in Business, he began teaching Business and History at Whitewood High School.
  It wasn't until 1974 that Keen decided to join Jewell Smokeless Coal Corporation as a Safety Inspector Trainee. He went on to become Jewell's manager of human resources after earning his Master's Degree in Mine Safety and Management in 1985 from Marshall University.
  Keen said he directly managed up to 15 employees and indirectly managed up to 1,205 at Jewell Smokeless' height before retiring in 2001.
  He holds a professional certification for managing human resources by the Society for Human Resources Management.
  "I'm pleased to have James," Mayor Roger Powers said. "He's been a long time friend and I have all the confidence in the world in him."
  Keen has also worked with councilman Gary Prater when the two worked alongside one another for around 25 years at Jewell, with Prater taking Keen's position managing human resources at Jewell after his retirement.
  Keen continues to play a role at Jewell Smokeless, hired as a consultant in 2001, and has provided his services to Austin Sales for two years as well.
  Among his accomplishments, Keen joined the Rail Advisory Board this year.
  He is also a deacon at Vansant Baptist Church.
  Keen and his wife have two sons, Jarrod Lee Keen, 33, of Raleigh, N.C., and Jonathan Chad, 28, of Damascus. Their three grandchildren, Charlie, 5, Jarrod Patrick "JP", 3, and Myra Jane, 7 months, are all of Raleigh, N.C.