HR Partnership | March 12, 2010

Connecting the Past, Present & Future: Through a generous donation from Frank Batten, Sr., the City of Norfolk will soon build a new downtown library to be called the Colonel Samuel L. Slover Main Library. The new library will be comprised of the historic Seaboard Building on Plume Street, the current location of the interim Norfolk Main Library, and a new structure to be constructed between the current Main Library and Selden Arcade, with the two structures connected by a glass-enclosed courtyard and atrium.

Please take a moment to fill out an online survey about what you think the new Colonel Samuel L. Slover Main Library should be all about for the City of Norfolk. Above is a conceptual design by Newman Architects of New Haven, Connecticut, the firm selected to design the new Main Library.

TAKE THE NORFOLK LIBRARY SURVEY

View the “21st Century Libraries” video from Providence Associates, the firm helping with the design of the Slover Library features. View here.

Waterside Marketplace in downtown Norfolk first opened in June, 1983. It has been a critical part of the City’s revitalization. Over the years, Waterside has evolved through numerous business cycles and is now in need of a major redesign and refocus. Your help is needed to shape this new direction by responding to this survey.

TAKE THE NORFOLK WATERSIDE MARKETPLACE SURVEY

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Tags: Hampton Roads, Norfolk

HR Partnership | March 2, 2010

FIELD[S] OF DREAMS. Though fields are literal, geographic spaces, they are nonetheless imbued with magic, mystery, wonder and possibility — the very elements of dreams. Norfolk and Old Dominion University will become this field, literally, as the 2010 ONFilm Festival celebrates the magic of the imagination.

The 4th Annual ONFilm Festival, a collaboration between Old Dominion University and the City of Norfolk, will be held March 24-27th at ODU.

The 2010 Career and Industry Day will be held on Saturday, March 27th at the University Theatre, between 46th & 47th on Hampton Boulevard. Parking is available in the garage between 45th & 46th. Schedule:

• Career Fair, 11am-2pm
• Filmmaking in Hampton Roads Panel hosted by Jeff Frizzell, 1-2pm
• Student Film Festival Screening, 2-4pm

The Career Fair is a great opportunity for companies to meet students, not only from ODU, but all the college and universities in Hampton Roads. If you are looking for full or part time employees, interns, or just some resumes to put in your pipeline, this is the place to be. Even if you do not have any current needs, please take the time to come out and support the coming film students from our community.

If interested in the 2010 ONFilm Festival Career and Industry Day,
please contact the Hampton Roads Film Commissioner, Jeff Frizzell at FilmOffice@HRP.org. The Film Office website is located at http://FilmHamptonRoads.com.

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Tags: Hampton Roads, HRFO, ODU

HR Partnership | February 26, 2010

Click on image to download your copy of Bravo!

From Particia Rublein, Executive Director of the Cultural Alliance of Greater Hampton Roads, committed to leveraging arts and culture as one more key industry our communities need to become great places to live and work.

The importance of the arts in our communities and in our schools:

Like most economic endeavors, these are not easy times for the arts. But we need the arts. A healthy arts economy not only nurtures our well-being but contributes to a healthy tax base. The arts need to be recognized as part of the solution to our economic turmoil.

It is gratifying to see the advancement of many arts and cultural projects moving forward, especially the renovation and expansion of the Children’s Museum of Virginia located in Portsmouth and the expansion of The American Theatre in Hampton.

Several Hampton Roads arts organizations are looking ahead positively with an eye toward advancement and growth. The pages in this edition of BRAVO! speak to that work.

The businesses and citizens of Hampton Roads understand the need and continue to provided generous support to the effort. Each year arts and culture organizations host, and provide jobs to, thousands of Virginia residents, and generate millions of dollars in revenue, adding a large infusion of visitors to local economies.

More than 300 arts and cultural organizations and individual arts call Hampton Roads “home.” From Williamsburg to the North Carolina border our region hosts historical restoration sites, museums, premiere opera, symphonies, galleries, literary festivals, theater, ballet, art studios, choral groups, independent movie theaters and arts education opportunities.

These resources are what economic development professionals refer to as their “quality of life,” and are, in many respects, the key ingredient in our efforts to attract high-end and high-paying business enterprises to the area.

Beyond the bottom line, research informs us that when students study music, when they read, perform in a play or visit an art exhibit, they learn to appreciate those who produced those works, and become more receptive to other people. The professional artists associated with those institutions become our children’s teachers. And we have found that through involvement in the arts children learn better.

Whatever our economic situation, the arts overlap with almost every discipline of daily life, promote healing, enhance the environment, foster a healthy workplace and improve education – primary tools to sustaining a high quality of life. These are the features that define our civic identity.

Bravo! Magazine is the definitive arts and culture printed resource in Hampton Roads for venues and events in dance, museums and lectures, music, theater, visual arts, festivals and the friends who bring them to us all.

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Category: About Hampton Roads, Arts & Culture, Economy, Visit HR | No Comments »
Tags: Arts, Culture, Economy, Education, Hampton Roads, Sense of Place, Tourism

HR Partnership | January 22, 2010

Its called Vision Hampton Roads. On this edition of What Matters, the weekly public affairs talk show on WHRO TV, we take a look at a roadmap that’s taking shape to diversify and strengthen the region’s economy.

Its goal: Hampton Roads will be recognized as a region for centers of excellence fueled by innovation, intellectual and human capital, infrastructure and a sense of place.

Right now (until February 5th), the plan is seeking public comment, and you are invited to take an online survey at http://VisionHamptonRoads.com.

Joining host Cathy Lewis for the discussion: Dana Dickens, President of the Hampton Roads Partnership; Doug Smith with Kaufman & Canoles, and Dwight Farmer, Executive Director of the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission.

Click on the graphic to see the video on YouTube, visit iTunes and download or watch at http://WhatMatters.tv.

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Category: About Hampton Roads, Arts & Culture, Business Community, Economy, Education & Workforce, Government & Citizens, HR History, Military Bastion, Research & Technology, Transportation, Visit HR | No Comments »
Tags: Hampton Roads, Military Bastion, Port, Tourism, Transportation, Virginia

HR Partnership | January 11, 2010

by Philip Newswanger, Inside Business

Here’s your chance to comment on the region’s first comprehensive economic development strategy.

Go to VisionHamptonRoads.com and fill in the questionnaire. The comment period lasts until Feb. 5.

The strategy will make the region eligible for grants from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, to which the plan will be submitted. And the strategy will serve as a blueprint for the future economic growth of the region.

Spearheaded by the Hampton Roads Partnership, the strategy took six months to compile and involved 150 community leaders in four committees.

“We all got real excited and said this is what Hampton Roads needs to align our organizations, our municipalities, our industries – to align the region under some common goals and objectives,” said Dana Dickens, President and CEO of the Partnership.

Two-thirds of the region’s economy is based on federal spending, the port and tourism, Dickens said.

“We are blessed in one sense,” Dickens said. “But it makes us more vulnerable in another sense.”

Dickens said that the loss of an aircraft carrier or the closure of NAS Oceana would take a tremendous toll on the region’s economy.

So the region needs to diversify its economic base, he said.

The concept was to formulate a strategy around maintaining and growing the three pillars of the economy while adding a fourth one, which Dickens called opportunities to grow the economy.

“We took those four categories and developed committees,” Dickens said. “We got 150 of the best and brightest [individuals] in the region” on the committees.

Larry Filer, associate professor of economics at Old Dominion University, completed a SWOT (strength, weaknesses opportunities, threats) analysis for the group, Dickens said.

“We put the SWOT analysis in front of the four committees and took notes,” Dickens said.

To give the plan a brand, it was named Vision Hampton Roads.

“The focus is to align the economic units, the organizations, the people who are engaged in the economy of Hampton Roads,” Dickens said.

The plan will be submitted to the federal government in February after the public comment period.

The committees began meeting during the summer. Each committee has met five times.

Dickens said the plan is transformational in two areas.

“For the Hampton Roads Partnership, this will be our work plan,” Dickens said. “I hope it’s going to be transformational for the region in the fact that we align around this common vision.

“I hope we develop these economies of scale that everyone knows are important for the region. We need to get in the mode of thinking, acting and living in one region. We’re all regional citizens, and we hope this will be a step toward that.

“We are competitive as a regional economy,” Dickens said. “We are less competitive when we compete as individual localities. If we are working for the same goals and objectives, it will help diversify our economy.

“There’s no effort here to change what cities and counties are doing,” Dickens said. “What’s good for one city or county is good for all of us.”

The committees were led by the following individuals: J. Robert Bray, Kaufman & Canoles Consulting LLC; Arthur L. Collins, former executive director of the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission; Rob Cross, Virginia Arts Festival; Russell Held, Virginia Port Authority; and Roy Whitney, Jefferson Lab.

Article originally posted on Inside Business, Januray 8, 2010: http://www.insidebiz.com/news/thinking-acting-living-one

Others, thus far, who are helping to spread the word to enlist Public Comment are:

• City of Chesapeake http://www.cityofchesapeake.net/
• City of Newport News http://nngov.com/
• City of Williamsburg http://www.ci.williamsburg.va.us/
• College of William & Mary http://swem.wm.edu/
• County of James City http://www.jccegov.com/
• Hampton Roads Center for Civic Engagement http://hrcce.org
• Hampton Roads Performs http://hamptonroadsperforms.org/
• Hampton Roads Planning District Commission http://www.hrpdc.org/Public_Notices.asp
• Hampton Roads Research Partnership http://hamptonroadsrp.org/
• Hampton Roads Technology Council http://hrtc.org
• My Hampton Roads Blog http://myhamptonroads.blogspot.com/
• Patchwork Nation http://www.pbs.org/newshour/patchworknation/
• Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily http://www.wydaily.com/local-news/3671-regional-group-has-plan-now-wants-public-feedback.html

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Category: About Hampton Roads, Arts & Culture, Business Community, Economy, Education & Workforce, Government & Citizens, HR History, Military Bastion, Research & Technology, Transportation, Visit HR | No Comments »
Tags: Economy, Hampton Roads, Military Bastion, Sense of Place

HR Partnership | January 8, 2010

by Lakeshia Artis, Inside Business

The Norfolk and Virginia Beach foundations are merging to become the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, which will provide philanthropic services to the region.

“The Norfolk Foundation felt that after 50 years, it had established itself as a regional grant-maker,” said Angelica Light, its president and CEO. “And our name did not reflect the name of the region.”

Merging the foundations allows them to better address regional challenges and have a greater impact on the community through grant-making services.

“We can speak about philanthropy with a clearer single voice,” Light said. “Combining foundations will increase the efficiency with which we deliver philanthropic services and work to inspire additional people to become donors through the new foundation .”

After consulting other community foundations in the area, the Virginia Beach Foundation was receptive to the idea of a merger.

“We support a lot of the same organizations,” said Debbie Steiger, executive director of the Virginia Beach Foundation….

NOTE: Effective January 1, 2010: It’s Official!

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Tags: Hampton Roads

HR Partnership | January 5, 2010

PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
January 5 – February 5, 2010

The Vision Hampton Roads document (draft) was released on January 5, 2010.

This will begin the 30-day public comment period required by the Economic Development Administration (EDA). You can view/download the document, i.e., our regional roadmap, at http://VisionHamptonRoads.com. We encourage you to take the Public Comment Survey and pass this link along to your friends, neighbors and colleagues.

During the next 30 days, the plan’s link will appear on the websites of many regional organizations. We are encouraging the 17 local governments, 3 planning partner organizations (i.e., Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance, and Hampton Roads Research Partnership) and others to post and pass along the link as well. We’re depending on your word-of-mouth (and email) to help create meaningful public participation in order to promote democracy and civic engagement, build public trust in government and enhance credibility within the community.

The Vision document is the product of over eight months of work, involving over 150 community volunteers who served on one or more of the 5 committees/sub-committees established to develop or oversee the plan. Presentations have been and will continue to be made during this period to organizations and local government leaders. News media outlets have already and will continue to post editorials and articles or air interviews focused on Vision Hampton Roads.

A Public Responsiveness Summary will follow the 30-day comment period, showing respondents how their feedback impacts the plan. In early February, the final document will be developed for final review, approval and submission to the EDA.

Vision planning has placed Hampton Roads on a path to regional transformation by embedding a working process in all that we do…
to think, live and act regionally.

Thank you,

E. Dana Dickens, III
President & CEO, Hampton Roads Partnership (HRP)

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Category: About Hampton Roads, Arts & Culture, Business Community, Economy, Education & Workforce, Government & Citizens, HR History, Military Bastion, Research & Technology, Transportation, Visit HR | 3 Comments »
Tags: Economy, Government, Hampton Roads, Military Bastion, Port, Tourism

HR Partnership | December 29, 2009

excerpts from David Cartier’s blog “What’s New in Olde Towne”

The Schooner Virginia is headed into rough waters due to the economy. The 122-foot wooden sailboat, built on the neighboring Norfolk waterfront five years ago, is halting operations indefinitely because of money problems. The story made the front page of The Virginian-Pilot on Thursday, December 17, 2009.

The Virginia Maritime Heritage Foundation plans to lay off 15 people, including the crew and two captains. The Schooner Virginia is expected to arrive back in its homeport of Norfolk from the Virgin Islands where it will be stored at a boat yard. All winter programming has been canceled. According to Will King, executive director of the non-profit foundation which owns the vessel, they need $300,000 to $400,000 for the vessel to sail again. The budget for the Schooner Virginia is $1 million.

There are several reasons why the Schooner Virginia needs to stay on course….

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Tags: Hampton Roads, Maritime, Military Bastion

HR Partnership | December 27, 2009

The Courthouse Galleries in Portsmouth celebrate the season with WINTER WONDERLAND: The Coleman Collection, a holiday classic for generations of Hampton Roads visitors and residents. From Victorian scenes of animated skaters and carolers to the enchanted forest of bears, deer and Santa’s workshop, the displays delight visitors of all ages. The Coleman Garden Nursery Yuletide displays began in the mid-1960s when owner, A.J. Lancaster was inspired by the animated Disneyland exhibit at the New York World’s Fair. Coleman’s first figure was a sleeping Santa. Over the years, several hundred figures were added to include animated elves, snow babies, woodland creatures, Santa’s toy and candy factories, a bakery and carolers, amongst others.

Housed in the 1846 Courthouse in historic Olde Towne, the Galleries are devoted to offering quality educational, cultural and aesthetic experiences in the arts through rotating visual art exhibits, lectures, classes and performances. The exhibits featured in this dramatic setting encompass traditional and contemporary art forms that inspire interest and understanding of our rich and diverse global heritage. The Courthouse Galleries provide quality programming that entertains and promotes a greater knowledge and understanding of the visual arts.

While in Portsmouth, check out other things to do and see at: http://www.visitportsva.com/

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Tags: Portsmouth

HR Partnership | December 27, 2009

The Peninsula Fine Arts Center (PFAC), located on Museum Drive in Newport News, is the premier arts advocate on the Peninsula of Virginia in Hampton Roads working to create a stronger community through art.

Through January 3, 2010, enjoy a special exhibit for the holidays: Season’s Greetings: Holiday Scenes from the Noland Company Collection.

PFAC features an ever-changing array of exhibitions, thought-provoking educational programs, a year-round studio art school, an interactive gallery for children, evening mixers and family friendly activities such as studio classes for kids and adults.

Their Studio Art School presents classes in oil and acrylic paint, watercolor, pottery, drawing, art appreciation and more. Taught by practicing artists, offerings range from one-day workshops to intensive ten-week courses with a new roster of classes each quarter.

PFAC also offers ARTventures Summer Camps which explores different themes in art each week for kids ages 6-13. And, their Hands On For Kids gallery has self-guided activities year-round.

Find PFAC in Mariners’ Museum Park along the Newport News Cultural Corridor and enjoy nearby Virginia Living Museum, The Mariners’ Museum and the Ferguson Center for the Performing Arts, too.

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Tags: Arts, Newport News