Old Dominion University has partnered with the Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative to win a $10 million grant from the Federal Broadband Stimulus Program for a project that will greatly expand the scope and speed of fiber optics communications networks in southeastern Virginia.

The grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration was announced in Washington Wednesday, Aug. 18, by Vice President Joe Biden.

MBC and ODU are each investing $1.2 million in the project, to cover total costs of nearly $12.5 million. Plans call for 170 miles of high-speed Internet infrastructure to be built during the next two years as part of the national Broadband Technology Opportunities Program.

For ODU, the project will provide more efficient and dependable high-speed communication technology to advance research and education on campus, and to support outreach services.

“Old Dominion University is pleased to have partnered with Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative to develop and sponsor this grant,” said the university’s president, John R. Broderick. “This is an investment that opens incredible opportunities for economic development and innovations for education program delivery in the region.”

“As an anchor institution and large consumer of broadband communication in Hampton Roads, Old Dominion will reach out to local communities and institutions to develop a collaborative effort for expanding the availability, reach and application of high-speed broadband communications.”

MBC is an independent and not-for-profit, open-access fiber optic backbone provider that already has installed 800 miles of fiber optic cable, most of it serving low-population and economically depressed localities in Southside Virginia. Tad Deriso, the MBC president and CEO, called the new project “really the linchpin of our entire strategy to help connect all of southern Virginia to the rest of the world.”

Internet infrastructure tends to support services to high-population and, therefore, high traffic areas. Many services are not available or too expensive in rural areas. That is why the federal and state governments since 2004 have supported MBC’s startup as a broadband wholesaler in an under-served Southside Virginia region that needs new economic development. The region has lost jobs in tobacco farming and warehousing, and in cotton mills and other manufacturing.

The 170 miles of new infrastructure will extend in a mesh from existing MBC network connection points in Emporia and Wakefield. It will be constructed in Southampton, Sussex, Surry and Isle of Wight counties and the cities of Suffolk and Franklin. Deriso said more than 60 community anchor institutions, such as schools, hospitals and emergency response departments, will be connected. This will allow those institutions to purchase new telecom services from MBC’s members, which are private-sector telecom providers.

But extending broadband infrastructure to underserved areas was not the only goal in MBC and ODU’s application for the stimulus grant. The new network will also deploy Infinera’s Digital Optical Network to extend the reach of MBC’s highly scalable, open-access transport network into the Norfolk market. This will enable diverse access to other MBC member networks in the region, including Intellifiber, Level3, Verizon and Qwest Communications.

“The open-access network will improve broadband communication speeds and options for the region, creating economies of scale for the cost of commodity Internet services,” said Rusty Waterfield, ODU’s assistant vice president for computing and communications services. “This provides network assets and services to help drive economic development, and enable collaboration among education, library, hospital and research institutions.”

Broderick and Deriso praised Waterfield and Wayne Jones, who directs network and communications services in Waterfield’s office, for their role in preparing the grant application. “We are grateful for the effort our team put into this,” Broderick said.

Jones said a major beneficiary of the new network’s reach into Hampton Roads will be the Eastern Lightwave Interconnect Enterprise (E-LITE) regional network, which provides high-speed connections between ODU and its Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC); the College of William and Mary; Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, and other federal agencies.

The five-year-old E-LITE, which supports research and education through 1-10 gigabytes per second connections, currently can access only one path to Internet service providers in Northern Virginia. “Right now we have a single linear path between Northern Virginia and Norfolk for the bulk of our commodity service,” Jones said. “This path is susceptible to service interruptions that can put us on our knees, such as one caused by a fire in Richmond.”

Jones said E-LITE will gain from the MBC network an alternate path to Northern Virginia, “providing system redundancies.” In addition, E-LITE will benefit from new ways to provide broader and cheaper services.

The redundant connection will give ODU’s Teletechnet distance learning program a more affordable and reliable broadband connection with community colleges in Virginia. This will be a boon to video conferencing, streaming video and other online interactive instructional delivery. The better service will also extend to ODU and WHRO public broadcasting’s delivery of educational content to public schools.

Broderick said he envisions the project with MBC also supporting the Business Gateway office that ODU opened earlier this summer to strengthen entrepreneurial ties between the university and regional businesses. “This initiative supports our recent launch of Business Gateway as a business-friendly entry point to the intellectual capital, innovative technologies and world-class infrastructure of the university,” he said.

As an example, Deriso said he could see the new broadband service allowing ODU’s VMASC to do computer simulation work with a tire research center in South Boston.

Jones suggested that new direct communications with the city of Franklin might allow ODU to take a greater role in retraining the workforce of the International Paper (old Union Camp Corp.) pulp and paper plant that closed there recently.

Outside of economic development, Jones added, the project will give ODU the opportunity to purchase more bandwidth at affordable rates, allowing students on the Norfolk campus greater freedom in accessing online applications and services. “This can be for research, as well as for recreation,” he said.

MBC’s advanced open-access fiber optic backbone network provides wholesale optical transport services, collocation, dark fiber, and tower construction/leasing. More than 55 private sector telecom providers are members of MBC. They use MBC’s open access network to expand their network reach, reduce their transport costs, enable new services and applications and drive advanced broadband services in Southern Virginia.

The cooperative’s mission is economic development, job creation and private sector investment in Southern Virginia. For more information about MBC, visit www.mbc-va.com.

From ODU News

Military and civilian personnel are scheduled to leave Suffolk or be transferred to another command in Hampton Roads in a year.

The same issue surfaced in Virginia Beach in 2005. That city reacted with a plan to keep the U.S. Navy’s air base, Naval Air Station Oceana, from leaving.

Suffolk is still reeling from the announcement by the Department of Defense to shutter the U.S. Joint Forces Command by next fall. Reactions have ranged from surprise to incredulity.

The loss could amount to a worst-case scenario of $1 billion in income and 6,000 civilian and military jobs.

Property owners are seeing empty space in the 1 million square feet occupied by contractors working for JFCOM and JFCOM itself.

Worse, they are wondering if they can backfill the space with tenants in a soft real estate market because of zero or declining job growth.

The two localities have a common thread: They are heavily dependent on defense dollars to drive the tax base.

But they diverge on the outcome.

Virginia Beach has managed to keep the dollars flowing through its economy while Suffolk officials are seeing the city’s economy tank – not good during an election year when four city council seats are up for grabs.

But Suffolk officials have formulated a plan with the slogan “reject, retain and replace.”

Suffolk City Council was scheduled to hear the plan to keep thousands of jobs and millions of dollars last week.

Because Virginia Beach took action, the Association of Defense Communities recognized the city with the Active Base Community award for its work to keep NAS Oceana at the association’s annual convention in San Francisco, Aug. 8-11.

The association, composed of communities where military bases are located, private contractors, real estate firms and developers, has 1,500 members and has existed for 30 years.

Previously, it went by the name of the National Association of Installation Developers.

The group and its members are all about keeping military bases and the incomes associated with the personnel attached to the bases. The group also works to redevelop areas that have lost a military base.

Tom Rumora, chairman of the 10-member awards committee, said this is the first time Virginia Beach received the award.

The association gets 30 to 40 applicants a year for the award, Rumora said, but it doesn’t hand out an award every year.

“We don’t take this lightly,” Rumora said. “You have to win on your merits. We are not obliged to give this award if they are not a meritorious candidate. It’s an honor. It’s not just a rubber stamp.

“We like communities that take action,” he said. “They didn’t just meet, they didn’t just talk and they didn’t just do reports. They took action.

“Virginia Beach has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt they have decisive, extraordinary and compelling action,” he said.

Faced with losing NAS Oceana, Virginia Beach officials developed a plan to redevelop properties and relocate businesses that were prohibited within the accident zone of the base.

The city was faced with a possible loss of 16,000 jobs with a total payroll of more than $1.18 billion, producing more than $400 million each year in goods and services, according to figures supplied by Virginia Beach.

Basically, the city rezoned property, bought property and relocated businesses that didn’t conform to the regulations to another area of the city and enticed businesses that did conform to properties surrounding the air base.

Execution of the plan took money, though, exactly $16 million a year, half of which the state funded, with the city funding the other half.

Virginia Beach said it has bought or reached agreement to buy 447 dwelling units through its residential property acquisition program.

It has also eliminated 385 residential dwelling units in zones where homes are prohibited, APZ-1 and the Clear Zones.

It also launched YesOceana.com, a plan to relocate businesses to other areas of the city and conforming businesses to APZ-1.

The city is luring suitable firms with grants, waiver of a conditional use permit, a rebate on local business taxes and fees, and a partial exemption of property taxes.

Posted to Inside Business on September 3, 2010 by Philip Newswanger

For more on the relationship between Oceana and Virginia Beach from The Virginian-Pilot, click here.

Download the articles from the September 2010 issue of Southwest Airlines’ Spirit Magazine:

• Part 1) Meet Hampton Roads:  Virginia’s hub of convenience, commerce, and coastal charms. History, commerce, military power, and hometown hospitality intersect in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Freedom was won here, and independence was conceived here. Rob Cross, Virginia Arts Festival’s Executive and Artistic Director, is featured as Hampton Roads’ very own music man.
• Part 2) Live:  From waterside condos to downtown Victorians, lifestyle choices abound.
• Part 3) Work:  A strong military presence sets the pace. Hampton Roads is at the forefront of the art-meets-science modeling and simulation industry, initially supported by the military and now heavily used in commercial transportation, medicine, and other fields. A hub for healthcare, too.
• Part 4) Play:  From boardwalks to Broadway, there’s no shortage of entertainment in Hampton Roads. The Sporting Life: Hampton Roads takes sports seriously. Passionate fans make up for the absence of a big-league franchise with their support for a wide range of collegiate and amateur athletics as well as minor league competition.
• Part 5) Eat:  Seafood naturally, but so much more.
• Part 6) Sleep:  The past never sleeps at these historic inns, but you can.

Link to more on “Meet Hampton Roads from the air“

From PBS NewsHour’s The Rundown, a Blog of News and Insight

September 2, 2010
By Dante Chinni

What the military giveth, the military can taketh away. It’s not a happy lesson, but it is one that many Military Bastions, counties around armed services installations, have learned in the recent years through rounds of base closings.

And it is a lesson that the 16-county region in southern Virginia known as Hampton Roads is confronting now.

The economy in Hampton Roads is diverse, pushed by multiple drivers including trade at the area’s massive ports and tourism on its beaches, but always underpinning it all has been a steady and substantial military presence. Four of the 16 counties in the region fall into Patchwork Nation’s Military Bastion category – including Norfolk, home to the Navy’s Second Fleet.

Now all of that is being thrown in the air after a string of announcements from the Pentagon that appear to point to a scaling down of much of the area’s military presence.

Since January, the region has been hearing about how it might lose one its carriers to Florida – meaning a possible loss of 11,000 jobs. In early August, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced plans to eliminate the Joint Forces Command based in the region – another 6,000 jobs hang in the balance there. And just recently came word that the Navy may consider “mothballing” the second fleet.

Add it all together and the impact is vast. The military has long been considered a key part of the three-legged stool that props up the region. The people of Hampton Roads are wondering how long that will continue to be the case – and whether that stool is going to get a bit wobbly.

A Stool with Two Legs

In some ways Hampton Roads is positioned better for cuts than other Military Bastions around the country. A stool with two legs is better than a stool with none. In some Military Bastions, big cuts in nearby bases can destroy a local economy.

Hopkinsville, Ky., for instance, relies so heavily on nearby Fort Campbell it’s hard to imagine what the economy would look like there without it. The manufacturing jobs that once helped push the area forward have long since dried up, as have the rail routes.

But no matter what the rest of the area economy looks like, Hampton Roads is not taking the news of its potential military departures lightly. Five different cities in the area quickly released resolutions protesting the Joint Forces elimination. Some cities are actively fighting the Joint Forces decision. Economic impact studies showed the area would be losing billions in revenue with the changes in mind.

The state of Virginia also quickly jumped in and Gov. Bob McDonnell announced the creation of a commission designed to expand the state’s defense and national security facilities.

The stakes in the proposed changes are much higher than the just military jobs. In the modern military, remember, contractors are an integral part of everything from maintenance to office work. The net impact of large cuts is sweeping.

The Politics of Utility and Austerity

That’s why, in some ways, the budget battles involving Military Bastions like Hampton Road are going to be fascinating to watch in the coming years as the national debt plays a large role in the national political dialogue.

The nation’s Military Bastions tend to be conservative bastions as well, solidly Republican. And as voices in the GOP increasingly argue for austerity, eventually the budget axe will fall on these communities driven, in many senses, by government spending.

In announcing the elimination of the Joint Forces command, Defense Secretary Robert Gates cited as one of the reasons “the culture of endless money that has taken hold” in the military.

And so in Hampton Roads and Military Bastions like it, the arguments are likely to begin, focusing on the need or utility of the items or forces being cut. No one has argued that a program that is wasteful, duplicative or unnecessary should be saved. And in Hampton Roads, the lines have already been drawn.

Rep. Randy Forbes, whose district encompasses some of the Hampton Roads, called the decision to eliminate the Joint Forces Command “further evidence of this administration allowing its budget for social change to determine defense spending.” The argument in other words is less about the need for the cuts than spending priorities.

The meaning? All the talk from politicians about needing to make cuts and trim back spending in Washington is going to face some serious hurdles. Austerity is always popular until it hits near home.

Military Bastions like Hampton Roads may find themselves with more reasons than other communities to be picky about what form of austerity they embrace.

In his recent Virginian Pilot Op-Ed piece, “A Vital Spinoff from JFCOM”, Jack Ezzell pointed out many of Hampton Roads’ strengths in the area of modeling and simulation.  He defined modeling and simulation as:

“Modeling and simulation refers to the process of developing a mathematical model of a real-world process, such as the flow of containers through a port facility and solving the model under different conditions. The information extracted from the model can be used to enhance the effectiveness of the real-world process and increase efficiency and profitability.”

This excellent example from the economically critical ports extends to traffic and transportation analysis.  Still other current modeling and simulation applications that should be of interest to Hampton Roads’ citizens include tidal level predictions for hurricanes and nor’easters being developed at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at William & Mary (VIMS); innovative designs for aircraft carrier landing systems at Northrop-Grumman Newport News (NGNN); design and development at NASA Langley Research Center (NASA-LARC), of launch pad abort systems to save astronauts’ lives in the event of a rocket anomaly during launch; design of particle accelerators and instrumentation at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab); a “virtual stethoscope”, developed at the Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) in collaboration with Old Dominion University’s Virginia Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation Center (VMASC), as a training device that simulates the sounds of the human body’s circulatory and respiratory systems;  and many, many others.

While modeling and simulation only approximates real-world behaviors and does not simply replace physical experiments, it does allow for extensive insights into system behaviors where full scale experimentation is not possible such as with hurricanes, or where experiments might involve human safety such as possible changes to the air traffic control system to allow the integration of drones with piloted aircraft, or are too expensive such as with NASA’s pioneering missions aimed at landing scientific instruments on other planets in the solar system.  We know that hurricane prediction is not perfect, but with the data collected and analyzed from each unique storm, scientists improve the mathematical models making predictions for the next storms better.  So it is not only the capabilities of modeling and simulation, but also the implications and limits of the model used that today’s student must learn.

What has allowed for this recent explosion of
modeling and simulation applications?

The past decade in computer and software advances – greatly increased memory and computational speed at substantially lowered cost – has made the development and exercising of such mathematical models part of the standard toolbox for today’s business people, scientists and engineers and, now, is even accessible to students in all grades K-12.  In addition to the analysis of mathematical models, the industrial applications of computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) have also become accessible to our middle and high school students in curricula programs such as Project Lead The Way (PLTW), a four-year turn-key engineering curriculum led in Virginia out of ODU’s Batten School of Engineering; and extra-curricula activities such as “F1 (Formula One) in Schools”, in which open-wheel race car models are designed and fabricated using CAD/CAM software/hardware.  Even a K-5 primer on the principles of modeling and simulation, “The Shape of Change”, is available at www.clexchange.org.   This book, written by two Massachusetts elementary school teachers provides classroom activities that demonstrate such system dynamic behaviors fundamental to modeling and simulation, as mammoth herd extinction, deforestation, and disease-spread.

These broad applications often tie together the previously disparate areas of theory-based K-12 math, science, social studies, and health with the hands-on K-12 area of CTE (Career and Technical Education) – formerly known as vocational or technical education.

The Commonwealth of Virginia and, particularly, Hampton Roads is actively engaged in growing our K-12 students’ knowledge of modeling and simulation.  A few selected examples:

• In its recent 2010 revision of Science Standards of Learning (SOL), the Virginia State Board of Education added modeling and simulation as a required skill in the laboratory investigation objective (grade 6, life science, physical science, biology, chemistry, and physics) for virtually all middle and high school science students in Virginia.
• In a collaboration between the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) and Virginia Beach Public Schools, Ocean Lakes High School science and math teachers have developed and piloted cross-discipline modeling and simulation curriculum that is now being spread throughout the region.
• NASA Langley Research Center in collaboration with Old Dominion University and VMASC has provided workshops led by national leaders in K-12 modeling and simulation to teachers from throughout Hampton Roads and as far west as Charlottesville.
• The Virginia Governor’s Academy at Pruden Center in Suffolk in collaboration with Tidewater Community College, provides regional instruction in CAD/CAM, including rapid prototype fabrication for high school students. READ THE STORY
• NASA Langley has provided modeling and simulation training to teachers from schools throughout Hampton Roads including Title 1 schools such as Campostella Elementary School in Norfolk and the Achievable Dream Academy in Newport News.

These are just a few of the actively growing K-12 modeling and simulation initiatives in the Commonwealth and Hampton Roads.  As curricula have developed, discussions are now starting to center around embedding K-12 teachers in industry during the summers so that they may experience first-hand applications of modeling and simulation at the real-world high tech work places in Hampton Roads.  This cross-training is aimed at enabling teachers to further develop a modeling and simulation curriculum that is both relevant and contemporary to prepare our 21^st century citizens for success in the globally competitive economic realities of their world.

Photo caption:  Kids don’t question, they just flow, which is why they are often experts on computers. It seems to indicate that it is not so much the technical skills but the ability to creatively explore that gets them there. Taken at MacWorld EXPO 2007, Moscone Center, San Francisco.

Photo credit:  David Pham on Flickr

The Virginia Beach Crime Prevention Steering Committee was established in 1977 to act as an advocate for community participation in crime prevention as well as to support and advise the Virginia Beach Police Department with community concerns regarding crime.  Each year the Steering Committee has honored individuals, community organizations and businesses that exemplified the values and mission of the Virginia Beach Crime Prevention Steering Committee. Nominations are being sought for this year’s awards, i.e., activities that occurred during the past twelve months.

Award categories are:

• Private Industry Award – Presented to a local business that has advanced crime prevention within the business community or within the community at-large. The nominee must be a for-profit business operating in Virginia Beach.
• Community Organization Award – Presented to a not-for-profit community organization that has actively promoted, developed and participated in crime prevention activities that have enhanced the quality of life in their community.
• Citizen Award – Presented to a resident of Virginia Beach, who has demonstrated a passion for making a difference in the community using crime prevention initiatives and activities.
• Youth Award – Presented to a youth, between 13 and 18, who has participated in crime prevention activities and programs, which have positively impacted the lives of others in Virginia Beach.
• Law Enforcement Award – Presented to a law enforcement official who has engaged in exceptional work while in the performance their assigned duties. Their work must have taken place in Virginia Beach. Recipients may be a sworn law enforcement official from a local, state or federal agency.
• Volunteer Award – Presented to a citizen who volunteers with the Virginia Beach Police Department and has participated in and/or promoted crime prevention activities and programs which have positively impacted the Virginia Beach community.

The Committee believes that by recognizing others for their achievements,  the community will be a safer place. For more information or to submit a nomination, please contact MPO Jim McElligott at (757) 385-1330 or jmcellig@vbgov.com or e-mail the Awards Committee Chairperson Bernadette Matson at bmatson@live.com. The nomination forms must be received by 5 PM on September 17, 2010.

The Committee’s website is: http://www.vbgov.com/crimepreventionsteeringcommittee

Click HERE for a complete Hampton Roads Resource Page on Joint Forces Command with links to organizations such as the Hampton Roads Military and Federal Facilities Alliance, local and state resources such as Congressman Forbes webpage, regional strategies such as Vision Hampton Roads and the Hampton Roads Modeling and Simulation Strategy 2020, events such as MODSIM World 2010, JFCOM news and more…

On 8-9-10, Secretary of Defense Gates recommended closure of Joint Forces Command (JFCOM), headquartered in Hampton Roads. JFCOM develops and employs modeling and simulation tools, the centerpiece of joint training. Modeling and Simulation (M&S) refers to the process of developing a mathematical model of a real world process, such as the flow of containers through a port facility, and solving the model under different conditions. The information extracted from the model can be used to enhance the effectiveness of the real world process and increase efficiency and profitability.

M&S is not a military-only tool.

Regardless of the outcome of Sec. Gates’ recommendation, the region-wide comprehensive economic development strategy, Vision Hampton Roads, has a structure already in place to coordinate existing and future efforts to grow the M&S community in Hampton Roads.

Hampton Roads is one of the country’s three leading regions in M&S along with Orlando, FL and Huntsville, AL. The unique strength in the Hampton Roads region is in three areas:

1. M&S education from high school through PhD. The Hampton Roads region is the only place you will find that continuum of M&S education.
2. Training. Significant expertise exists in how to employ M&S to perform all types of training from the military to medical and healthcare.
3. Decision support command and control. The Hampton Roads region is set apart by its expertise in employing M&S to analyze complex problems and to help individuals or groups make better decisions because of the insight they gain from the models.

The Virginia Modeling Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC) at Old Dominion University is a key contributor to this sector of the economy with the past help of JFCOM.

The following are on-going M&S diversification efforts in the region that deserve to be championed and supported:

• MODSIM World Conference & Expo, now in its fourth year and franchised in Canada, has seen a 25% annual growth and focuses on promoting M&S activity outside of DoD, encouraging the transfer of technology and information across domains.
• Senator Mark Warner’s M&S Taskforce has put a special focus on medical M&S for 2011.
• Hampton Roads M&S Strategy 2020 pays special attention to entrepreneurship, commercialization, research and development, expanding into new markets, educational linkages and leveraging unique assets.  The Strategy is designed to capitalize on, not rely on, existing DoD M&S work to expand and grow the industry base in Hampton Roads.
• Hampton Roads M&S Leadership Council was developed to coordinate the implementation of the M&S Strategy 2020 and has taken active steps to operate in-line with Vision Hampton Roads.
• Vision Hampton Roads specifically includes M&S as a cluster which deserves attention and support to continue its growth in the region as it presents tremendous opportunity to diversify the economy while providing clean, high-paying jobs.

A 2007 technology survey identified over 2,000 direct M&S jobs paying an average of $82,733 per year (more than double the region’s average salary) spread throughout the region, with nearly 60% on the Peninsula and 40% on the Southside. Although strongly supported by the military, jobs have expanded to transportation, port operations, education and the medical world.

The survey also noted many M&S research strengths in the region: ODU, Eastern VA Medical School, Hampton University, National Institute of Aeronautics, NASA Langley Research Center, Jefferson Lab, Norfolk State University and Christopher Newport University.

And, according to Virginia’s Economic Development Partnership, Virginia’s M&S industry employs 11,500 people in the private sector while government and military is estimated at another 2,900 people. The top two regions by employment are Northern Virginia (5,900) and Hampton Roads (5,200) and account for 97% of all M&S employment in Virginia.

So what is the region’s next step? Focus M&S efforts with the existing region-wide strategic plan already in place led by the Vision Hampton Roads Innovation Task Force (Dr. Joe Bouchard, Lead) and the Hampton Roads M&S Leadership Council (VMASC’s Dr. John Sokolowski, Chair) which aligns with designated community leaders in specific areas of interest (ex: higher education, healthcare) for implementation of Vision’s strategic actions.

Engage directly with the M&S community and learn more by attending the MODSIM World Conference and Expo, October 13-15, 2010, at the Hampton Roads Convention Center in Hampton, http://ModSimWorldConference.com.

Ten professional leaders and top level executives in our community have volunteered once again to present a seminar from their respective expertise. It is a fantastic series for a very low cost that is aimed at those in our community exploring the idea of doing business with the government (especially the DoD). At the Seminars you’ll learn Strategic Planning, Marketing, Proposal Development, Contract Performance, Contract Administration and Accounting, Government Customer Expectations, Subcontracting with Prime Contractors, Profitability and Administration, Employee Relations and Small Business Resources.

Classes are held at the Peninsula Workforce Development Center, 600 Butler Farm Road, Hampton, VA on Tuesdays, September 14 – November 16, 2010 from 7:00 to 9:15 p.m. Participants will receive an official certificate of completion from Thomas Nelson Community College and 2.0 Continuing Education Units.

“I very strongly recommend this seminar. For a small investment in time and cost, it provides a unique opportunity to be exposed to the full spectrum of the business environment for contractors operating in the defense and homeland security marketplace, crossing all functional lines.” — Harry Train, Admiral, U.S. Navy (ret.)

“As I retired from the Navy, the seminar helped me understand the business. I was able to use it immediately in my job in industry.” — Rick Doran, Allied Command Transformation, Norfolk, VA

For further information or to register contact Carolyn Tarrant or Rita Bond at the Peninsula Council for Workforce Development. Phone: (757) 826.3327 or Email: ctarrant@pcfwd.org or rbond@pcfwd.org.

From Matthew James, President & CEO, Peninsula Council for Workforce Development (PCFWD)

IPads, Text Messaging Enhances Communication Efforts in Williamsburg, Va.

Posted Aug 18, 2010, By Russell Nichols, Staff Writer for Government Technology

As iPads and smartphones continue to transform ideas of how governments communicate, officials in Williamsburg, Va., have realized the power of touch.

In July, the city chose to adopt iPads to eliminate printed materials for City Council meetings and enhance e-mail and Web access for council members. And this week, local officials launched CITY411, a text messaging system that allows residents to text problems that need to be fixed around the city.

In both cases, the idea is to move beyond traditional methods of communication so city workers and citizens can better navigate the digital landscape with the latest tech tools and save money, time and resources.

With iPads, for instance, the city cuts out the $2,000 a year spent on printing council meeting agenda and work sessions, said Mark Barham, IT director. The iPads cost about $600 each, and the city paid $17 per device for third-party software to enable specific functionality and uses standard Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet. The elimination of printed council packets alone, Barham said, would pay for the five iPads in 18 months.

With Birmingham, Ala., recently announcing its plans to put iPads in the hands of council members, the tablet computer is making a strong impression in public-sector circles. In addition to the savings element, Williamsburg officials agreed that the iPad would enable council members to have constant access to the Internet, calendars and contacts, but also preserve traditional hands-on techniques.

“The iPad has annotation software available (at a cost of $7 per copy) that will enable City Council members to make notes, highlight information, apply reminder tags, etc., in the same fashion that they would mark up a printed copy for use in the council meeting,” City Manager Jack Tuttle wrote in a July memo to Mayor Jeanne Ziedler and the City Council.

But Tuttle didn’t find inspiration for the city’s text messaging system in an Apple store. He was in Kettering, England, when he came across a system for citizens to text any municipal issues to local officials, and thought why not in Williamsburg?

The text messaging trend has become more attractive to governments in recent months, especially in local law enforcement agencies, such as the Marion County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office, which started accepting distress calls via text message this summer. In Williamsburg — where the latest citizen survey showed that 91 percent of city residents own cell phones — the latest texting service makes a lot of sense.

The city found a vendor, Mobivity, and now pays $79 for up to 500 messages a month, Tuttle said. To use CITY411, users create a new text message from their phone and send it to 95495. In the body of the text, enter CITY411, followed by a space and then type the message. The sender will receive an initial automatic response saying the message has been received. Each message comes in to the IT department and gets routed to the appropriate department, which will respond once the issue has been addressed.

The service is designed for residents to report non-emergency issues: a crooked stop sign, a pothole, a missed trash pickup, an abandoned vehicle, etc.

If it’s an emergency, citizens will be directed to call 911. Standard text messaging rates may apply, depending on the user’s mobile phone plan. The service has been online for a week, but one person has already texted in an issue.

“The first one we received was someone asking about synchronizing traffic lights outside the city limits,” Tuttle said. “We got back to them and said, ‘It’s outside our limits, but it’s handled by the [Virginia Department of Transportation] and here’s the number.’”

Citizens can also register their mobile phones to receive occasional text messages from the city about upcoming events, weather advisories or other critical information. To date, 38 citizens have subscribed.

“It’s one more way of getting the word out,” Tuttle said, adding that he believes it will be especially popular with the younger generation. “We’ll see what kind of volume we get. I think, over time, it will grow.”