HR Partnership | February 13, 2010

The Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance’s (HREDA) marketing efforts are aimed at enhancing global awareness of Hampton Roads (i.e., marketing the region externally) and ultimately encouraging sustainable, inclusive growth benefiting the entire region (i.e., coordinating prospects with our municipalities’ economic development offices).

According to the 2009 Annual Report, HREDA’s team traveled 313,087 miles visiting 25 cities in 11 countries while also attending 30 trade shows, seminars and conferences and hosting 12 special events.

Economic development is a numbers game. And the numbers don’t lie. In 2009, HREDA’s efforts resulted in 57 new projects, 42 prospect visits and 5 new companies in the region totaling $18.75M in capital investment and 294 jobs for our local workforce.

Here’s the highlights:

MASA Group Inc., a high technology company specializing in cognitive artificial intelligence and optimization for logistics…click through to read more.

Ipconfigure, is an IP surveillance company…click through to read more.

Cobham Composites, an industry leader in high tech military and civil aerospace composite products…click through to read more.

becker-solutions Corp., a German based hydraulic hose assembler and parts manufacturer…click through to read more.

Art Institute is a well renowned provider of creative and artistic related educational programs…click through to read more.

To learn more, visit HREDA’s website:

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Category: About Hampton Roads, Business Community, Economy | 1 Comment »
Tags: Economy, Hampton Roads, HREDA

HR Partnership | February 12, 2010

Excerpt from WTKR-TV3; Photo credit, IMDB

When it comes to Hollywood stars, there are not many brighter than Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly. In her new movie, she plays a woman named Virginia, who lives in Virginia – Virginia Beach.

The movie takes place in Virginia Beach. It involves a Virginia Beach woman who is in a relationship with the Virginia Beach sheriff. They even spend time on the Virginia Beach boardwalk. However, the film was shot in Michigan.

In Holland, Michigan hundreds of extras lined up to play the people of Hampton Roads.

The film is called “What’s Wrong With Virginia?“

Since the filmmakers snubbed the city, the title has become an indictment on Hampton Roads’ feature film failures.

Why did we miss out on that?

“We missed out because we didn’t have the financial package put together,” said Rita McClenny, state film commissioner [Virginia Film Office].

McClenny says unlike most states, Virginia offers no meaningful incentives. Certainly nothing like North Carolina where moviemakers get a 25 percent rebate on what they spend. That’s why much of “Nights in Rodanthe” was actually shot in Rodanthe. And it’s why television shows like One Tree Hill are based in North Carolina.

And Virginia gives nothing like the 42 percent rebate Michigan used to woo away Jennifer Connelly and company.

“It was a very, very Virginia Beach story that was filmed in Michigan. And it was pretty devastating, frankly,” McClenny said.

It could be even more devastating to Jeff Frizzell. Because Hollywood keeps passing us by, local cities are slashing funding to the four-year-old Hampton Roads Film Office. Frizzell, the commissioner, admits the venture is on the verge of collapse. On this day, Frizzell is trying to pry money out of politicians in Richmond.

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Mr. Mathers’ story on WTKR-TV3 is correct, funding for the Hampton Roads Film Office (HRFO) by some cities has been either cut or eliminated all together, but that is where the accuracy ends.

The HRFO received funding from 5 Hampton Roads localities (including Norfolk) and the state for the current fiscal year. This, in combination with in-kind contributions by the Hampton Roads Partnership, allowed the HRFO to have another very successful year.

The HRFO does not define success by sightings of George Clooney or Tom Hanks in Hampton Roads. Major motion picture production does bring in significant economic impact to a region, but so do independent films, television series, commercial work, corporate video, and other types of production. During calendar year 2009, production companies have come to Hampton Roads from networks including MTV, A&E, TLC, BBC, Discovery, The Food Network, The History Channel and others. They have produced shows including the TLC hit series “What Not to Wear”, A&E’s “Hoarders”, and The Food Network’s “Throw Down With Bobby Flay”. As far as big budget Hollywood productions “The Box” starring Cameron Diaz was partially filmed in Hampton at NASA Langley, where over 150 extras were hired along with a large contingent of local crew members. The HBO mini-series “John Adams” starring Paul Gamatti and Laura Linney, and produced by Tom Hanks filmed in Virginia and spent nearly $80 million dollars in the state, with a portion of that in Williamsburg.

The Hampton Roads region produced $120 million in economic impact, $9 million in state and local tax revenue, and created over 700 jobs annually since the inception of the HRFO in 2006. The reality series “Eish Safari” filmed in Hampton Roads this past summer produced over 900 man-hours of work for local crew and spent nearly $1 million dollars in the region, and while you may not see it in the theaters, 20 million viewers overseas will. They will see the beauty and the history of Hampton Roads, Virginia and maybe decide it’s where they want to take their next vacation or locate their next business venture.

The HRFO’s lobbying efforts over the last 4 years at the Virginia General Assembly has been for funding of the production industry as a whole in an effort to create jobs, not for money to fund the regional office. The HRFO is currently working with the Norfolk Economic Development Alliance to create an Advisory Board to help secure funding and commit to a long-term strategic plan so the Film Office can continue to bring in production dollars and create jobs in Hampton Roads.

Please feel free to contact the Film Office with any comments, questions or concerns.

W. Jeffrey Frizzell has been Commissioner of the Hampton Roads Film Office (HRFO) since it’s inception. The Film Office, a division of the Hampton Roads Partnership, opened in July of 2006 with it’s office located in downtown Norfolk. The HRFO mission is to generate economic impacts in the Hampton Roads region by attracting film, television and related media projects to our region. The Film Office assists local and out of area productions with location, crew and resource (building materials, rental cars, hotel, etc) assistance. The film office also markets the region as a superior location of choice.

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Category: About Hampton Roads, Business Community, Government & Citizens, HR History, Visit HR | 1 Comment »
Tags: Economy, Film, Hampton Roads, HRFO, Virginia

HR Partnership | February 5, 2010

Reposted from the Port of Virginia’s blog: Edward L. Brown Sr., the long-time leader of the Atlantic Coast District of the International Longshoremen’s Association, died Friday Feb. 5; he was 84.

Brown spent 50 years on the Hampton Roads waterfront with the ILA, and during that career spent time solving problems and negotiating on behalf of the union from Maine to Texas. Many who knew Brown and sat on the opposite side of the table from him are quick to remember one of his favorite sayings as a negotiator: “We are in the middle of the couch.”

“I think his dedication to the ILA, and in particular the men and women he represented here, will never be matched again,” said Roger Giesinger, president of the Hampton Roads Shipping Association. “Ed led this Union to greatness with his forward-thinking and his ability to make decisions when they were not popular to all his members. Typically, these decisions were not only the right decisions, but decisions that created more jobs and more money for ILA benefits….

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Category: Business Community, Transportation | 2 Comments »
Tags: Hampton Roads, HRP, Labor, Port

HR Partnership | February 2, 2010

by Tracy Agnew | Suffolk News-Herald

For the second time in 10 years, Sentara Healthcare has been ranked as the top integrated health care system in the nation, according to SDI Health and “Modern Healthcare” magazine.

The annual ranking measures eight performance indicators, such as clinical integration, technology integration, services offered, financial stability and more. Sentara is the only health system that has been listed in the top 10 each of the 13 years the list has been compiled.

“It’s a nice recognition, I think, of a lot of hard work by a lot of people in our health system over the years,” said David L. Bernd, chief executive officer of Sentara Healthcare. “It’s just a recognition of Sentara’s work to provide more seamless services.”

In a reflection of the economy’s effect on health care systems, one of the factors that carried the greatest weight for 2010 was financial stability. Bernd said financial stability is an important factor in Sentara’s services.

“Our management team and all our physicians and employees have worked hard in recent years to maintain high-quality patient care while managing those expenses we can control,” added Bernd. “We feel very good about the work that we’ve done to manage through the recession, as it reflects a real team effort.”

In addition to fiscal responsibility, the use of technology to improve patient care and safety was a major factor in the decision. Sentara’s implementation of Sentara eCare, its electronic medical record system, allows patients to keep the same medical records — from their doctor’s office to the emergency room to the specialist’s laboratory.

“When we engineered this up front, we made sure it was seamless,” Bernd said….

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Category: Business Community | No Comments »
Tags: Hampton Roads, Healthcare, Riverside, Sentara

HR Partnership | February 2, 2010

“… these spaces have been shown to make significant contributions to the energy and robustness of the local entrepreneurial environment, and have become an increasingly common way for cities to promote themselves as supportive of the new breed of entrepreneurial venture.” – Marty Kaszubowski, President of General Ideas, a Norfolk-based technology venture consultancy

Like many regions throughout the U.S. and the globe, Hampton Roads continues to seek a more definable sense of place that will help engage and crystallize our “creative class” and promote new models of innovation, entrepreneurship, and business formation.

Meanwhile, even in a place as conservative as Hampton Roads, the nature of work continues to change, as more effective tools and ubiquitous communication infrastructures expand to support mobile and freelance professionals who can’t, or choose not to, spend their work time in traditional office settings or at home, alone, in their spare room.

The result is that our region’s coffee shops, libraries, and food courts are increasingly full of consultants, writers, marketers, programmers, budding entrepreneurs, and other creative professionals banging away at laptops and smart phones, meeting around cramped restaurant tables, scribbling on napkins, and dealing with the inherent distractions and limitations of trying to accomplish meaningful work in public spaces. While there are obvious advantages to this sort of mobility, there is also a strong and growing need for an alternative that extends beyond the hour or two one can spend at Starbucks, but without the rigid and expensive commitment of renting a traditional office space.

One small, but important, contribution need is the need for a grass-roots group, with some support from our business community, cities, universities, and others, to begin experimenting with the growing national trend toward “coworking”, which melds the freedom and mobility of café culture with the collaborative and results-oriented drive of the new generation of free-lancers and entrepreneurs.

In short, a coworking space is a cafe-like office/community/collaboration space designed for those who don’t want to work in isolation, but realize the need to get out of the house, and beyond the coffee shop, to get some real work done.

The idea is not new; model coworking spaces have been successful in New York City, Austin, Portland, Chicago, Charlottesville and other cities where people have recognized a need to promote collaboration and “organic” interaction among freelancers and other mobile professionals. Many are stand-alone, for profit ventures, while others are run as not-for-profits with volunteer staff and sponsorships from local cities and businesses. Many are affiliated with universities or like-minded for-profit or not-for-profit organizations (sometimes even health clubs and coffee shops). Some have fairly normal “working” hours, while others are aggressively unconventional, specifically aiming to attract people who already have “day jobs” and need a place to work, collaborate, and generally pursue their dreams late into the night.

Photo credit: Charlottesville’s Coworking Facebook Page

Regardless of the business model used, coworking spaces have been shown to be solidly self-sustaining. They include small comfortable work spaces that can be rented by the day or by the week, with no commitment for longer-term use, along with real conference rooms and white boards and that foster informal group brainstorming sessions and as well as meaningful, hard-nosed deal-making.

Learn more…

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Category: Business Community | 5 Comments »
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HR Partnership | January 30, 2010

According to Marine Log magazine, Virginia shipyards are backing the newly formed Virginia Offshore Wind (VOW) Coalition.

“Our goal is to be the Emerald City of green energy on the East Coast,” said Virginia Beach Mayor William D. Sessoms Jr., announcing the group’s formation. “Promoting wind energy off Virginia Beach’s coast is good for business and good for the environment.”

Coalition members include developers, manufacturers, utilities, localities, businesses and environmental groups: BAE Systems Ship Repair, Colonna’s Shipyard, and Earl Industries. Others include Apex Offshore Wind, AREVA, the City of Virginia Beach, Dominion Virginia Power, Earl Industries, Fugro Atlantic, Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, Science Applications International Corporation, Seawind Renewable Energy Corporation, Weeks Marine and W. F. Magann. The coalition also includes organizations and individuals that endorse offshore wind in Virginia.

“Offshore wind can become an important and clean diversification of Virginia’s power generation portfolio in the coming years,” said Coalition Chairman Theo de Wolff, principal of Seawind Renewable Energy Corporation.

The coalition has two goals…

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Category: Business Community | 4 Comments »
Tags: Economy, Energy, Environment

HR Partnership | January 29, 2010

“The real story is how many people showed up tonight; there’s real passion in the region for high speed rail. This is the most important decision in Hampton Roads for the next 50 years.” — Attendee

We're on board with High Speed Rail…

Over 500 regional residents, public officials and private citizens alike, jammed into Norfolk’s Half Moone Cruise Terminal on the evening of January 28^th. Only negative comment heard during this Virginia Dept. of Rail and Public Transit’s (DRPT) federal hearing? Not enough seats! The crowd was standing room only!

What is the economic impact of bringing high speed rail to Hampton Roads? According to Mike Barrett, Chair of the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance (HREDA), it’s $3 Billion and 30,000 jobs. As the 36th largest metropolitan area, this region deserves high speed rail. “Proximity equates to prosperity,” said Barrett. “We will see immediate return on investment from day one.”

New DRPT Director (and former Virginia legislator and U.S. Congressman), Thelma Drake, arrived late to the event due to a disabled car in the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT). Drake explained that the mission of the DRPT is to expand the state’s transportation choices and increase mobility, adding that tonight’s crowd should show the federal government how critically important this project is to the citizens of the region.

Norfolk City Mayor Paul Fraim welcomed everyone and mentioned the announcement today of the $8 Billion in first-round awards for the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program and how Virginia fared. (see White House Press Release)*

Read the full summary here, including public comments…

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Category: About Hampton Roads, Business Community, Economy, Government & Citizens, Military Bastion, Transportation, Visit HR | 7 Comments »
Tags: Economy, Environment, General Assembly, Hampton Roads, Military Bastion, Newport News, Norfolk, ODU, Regional, Transportation, Virginia Beach

HR Partnership | January 24, 2010

courtesy of the Port of Virginia’s Blog

On January 13th, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch Economist & Assistant V.P., Gary Bigg, addressed the second annual Hampton Roads Business Brief, sponsored by the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.

Bigg painted a picture of cautious optimism regarding economic recovery in Virginia and the United States over the next 12-24 months. For calendar year 2010, real gross domestic product is forecast to grow by 3.2%. That growth in GDP should increase to 3.4% in 2011. Citing a weak dollar, Bigg expects solid growth in the heavy equipment and software manufacturing segments. As for the Port of Virginia, Bigg forecast, “…an export and import revival over the next two years that should help port activity.” Regarding inflation, Bigg expects relative stability.

Focusing specifically on the Virginia economy, Bigg said, “Government is a large component of this area’s economy and that sector is probably going to remain fairly strong over the next several years.” He was not as optimistic regarding the local housing market, stating, “There will be a slow recovery in the Region for the housing sector simply because of the massive amount of inventory that’s here (on the market).”

Photo credit: Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce

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Category: Business Community, Economy | No Comments »
Tags: Economy

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