According to Smart Beginnings South Hampton Roads, 90% of a child’s brain is developed by the age of 5. Hampton Roads and Virginia is faced with three employee options: import talent, export jobs or GROW the talent here. That growth begins with early education which provides the foundation for economic productivity, responsible citizenship and strong communities.

See http://SmartBeginningsSHR.org for more information and to learn how to get involved.

Newport News shipyard, nation’s largest, is one of Hampton Roads’ economic driving forces

The yard is Hampton Roads’ largest private employer, with about 20,000 workers, and is the nation’s sole maker of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. It is one of two submarine builders.

On the banks of the James River on the tip of the Peninsula, the yard went into operation in 1886, founded by railroad magnate Collis P. Huntington as a sidelight to his coal operations. The yard started out building Navy and commercial ships and has built ships for World War I, World War II and all wars since.

It now focuses nearly exclusively on Navy vessels. The yard boasts one of the strongest cranes in the Western Hemisphere, a 1,050-ton gantry. More than 23 stories high, it has been a local landmark since 1975.

In a new venture, Northrop is partnering with French firm Areva on a new manufacturing facility that will eventually build parts for commercial nuclear reactors. The center is under construction in the north end of the shipyard.

Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman (soon moving corporate headquarters to Virginia) bought the yard in 2001. Other area shipyards include Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth and BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair in Norfolk.

Once Northrop Grumman Corp. completes its process of evaluating the future of its shipbuilding unit, the Newport News shipyard could find itself in a familiar position: on its own again.

The company is leaning toward spinning off its shipbuilding unit, but will still consider selling the business to a qualified private investor.

A spinoff would mean Northrop would break off its shipbuilding operations in Newport News and on the Gulf Coast to form a separate company with its own leadership. In a typical spinoff scenario, shareholders of the parent company would receive equity stakes in the newly formed company.

That’s what happened in Newport News in 1996, when Tenneco Inc. spun off Newport News Shipbuilding into an independent, publicly traded company. The yard remained on its own until 2001, when Northrop bought it for $2.6 billion.

The sale or spinoff of Northrop’s shipbuilding enterprise, which employs about 40,000 people (half of which are located in Hampton Roads) and builds the Navy’s most sophisticated ships, would likely require approval from the Defense Department.

Cmdr. Victor Chen, a Navy spokesman at the Pentagon, characterized Northrop’s move to seek alternatives for its shipbuilding unit as a “business decision.”

The shipbuilding industrial base “has to have adequate capability, adequate capacity and it has to have competition,” Chen said. “The decision Northrop Grumman is making is their own decision, but given that, we’re going to evaluate what happens in order to be able to affordably execute the shipbuilding plan.”

Mike Petters, the former top executive in Newport News, was tapped to lead Northrop’s unified shipbuilding division when Newport News and Gulf Coast operations merged in 2008. Since then, he’s spent considerable time trying to turn around Northrop’s floundering operations in Mississippi and Louisiana, which have never fully recovered since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the region in 2005.

Excerpts from the Daily Press

This isn’t just a shipyard:
For 124 years, shipbuilding has been the lifeblood of Newport News

Former President George H.W. Bush, left, and his sons then-President George W. Bush and then-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush pose after the christening ceremony of the last Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush, on Oct 7, 2006, at Northrop Grumman’s Newport News shipyard. (Daily Press file photo / October 5, 2006)

by Dave Fairbank, Daily Press

Newport News has been synonymous with shipbuilding for more than a century. The city’s signature shipyard has built hundreds of commercial and naval fighting vessels and remains the region’s largest private employer.

The shipyard is the most prominent presence on the Peninsula, from the 234-foot gantry crane — the strongest in the Western hemisphere — that dominates the downtown skyline to the more than 550 acres of property it occupies along the James River.

Hear from the workers themselves about the sweat, tears and pride that goes into building something as massive as an aircraft carrier… Dave’s story

What’s the best way to create new jobs? Based on a recent study from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, it’s by stimulating more start-up businesses.

Download and read the complete study.

Despite their relatively small numbers, fast-growing young firms generate approximately 10 percent of new jobs in any given year. Researchers suggest three policy strategies to support high-growth startups to bolster job growth.

As the American economy continues to send out mixed signals about recovery, job creation has emerged as the country’s most pressing economic issue. Not only important for employment itself, job growth also drives recovery in other sectors, including housing. But, while hope for spurring the U.S. economy toward recovery focuses squarely on job creation, policy discussions center primarily on measures that would expand job growth in existing companies.

According to the study released by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the current national conversation would be more productively focused on creating a favorable environment for entrepreneurship—and particularly high-growth entrepreneurship—because top-performing companies are the most fertile source of new jobs.

High-Growth Firms and the Future of the American Economy, the third in the Kauffman Foundation Research Series on Firm Formation and Economic Growth, draws on a special tabulation conducted by the Census Bureau at the Kauffman Foundation’s request, calculated from the Business Dynamics Statistics (BDS) database. Author Dane Stangler, a senior analyst with the Kauffman Foundation, found that in any given year, the top-performing 1 percent of firms generate roughly 40 percent of all new jobs.

Further, the study showed, so-called “gazelle” firms (ages three to five) comprise less than 1 percent of all companies, yet generate roughly 10 percent of new jobs in any given year. The “average” firm in the top 1 percent contributes 88 jobs per year, and most end up with between 20 and 249 employees. The average firm in the economy as a whole, on the other hand, adds two or three net new jobs each year.

“Because fast-growing young firms account for a disproportionate share of net job creation, policymakers who are worriedly poring over unemployment projections might instead seek to foster the creation of more high-growth firms,” said Robert E. Litan, vice president of Research and Policy at the Kauffman Foundation. “While some new companies will undoubtedly fail, high-growth firms must be started somehow, and the more quickly they are launched and in larger numbers, the faster both output and employment will grow.”

The study suggests that policymakers follow three strategies in seeking to create more gazelles:

• Focus on creating more new firms, with the expectation that this also will increase, by basic arithmetic, the number of high-growth firms. Startup firms contribute a net increase in employment that is essential if the economy is to achieve positive net job creation in any given year. Since the level and rate of firm formation in the United States have basically been flat for 20 years, however, it’s not clear how successful the United States can be in actually creating more new companies. In addition, while it is possible that the recent recession will spur more individuals to start companies, there is no guarantee that this will automatically increase the number of high-growth firms.
• Remove barriers that potentially block the emergence of high-growth companies among existing firms. These barriers could include access to capital, taxation and regulatory burdens.
• Target immigrants and universities, which have been known to produce high-growth firms but which often suffer from bottlenecks. Recent research has shown that U.S.-based technology and engineering companies founded by immigrants have created thousands of jobs for Americans. While many Americans might perceive immigrants as competition for a limited supply of jobs, many immigrants end up making, rather than taking, jobs. To draw into the United States those immigrants who intend to start firms, either establish a new visa program—such as an expansion of the “Startup Visa Act” recently introduced in the U.S. Senate that would create a new visa for immigrants who can raise $250,000 for their startup company—or expand the existing EB-5 visa program for immigrant investors. On the university front, enhance innovation and job creation by breaking down barriers in the commercialization process that could impede university researchers from moving their innovations into new companies.

“Without startups, our research shows that net job creation in most years would be negative, so policies that expand firm formation could increase both job creation and the number of high-growth firms,” Stangler said.

For the complete Small Business Administration “Gazelles” report highlighting Hampton Roads as the “Best Region” on the East Coast for Defense Jobs, click HERE.

On August 25, 2010, the first Mid-Atlantic MEGAvention, an exhibit/expo-type event, is being hosted at the Virginia Beach Conference Center. It is organized under the auspices of DBIA (Design-Build Institute of America) in anticipation of this becoming an annual multi-organizational event. The Steering Committee for this first event is comprised of representatives from each of these cooperating associations:

• American Institute of Architects-Hampton Roads Chapter (AIA-HR),
• Associated Builders and Contractors-Virginia Chapter (ABC-VA),
• Associated General Contractors of Virginia (AGCVA),
• Builders and Contractors Exchange of Virginia (BCEVA),
• Commercial Real Estate Women-Hampton Roads (CREW-HR),
• Design-Build Institute of America, Hampton Roads Chapter (DBIA-HR)
• Hampton Roads Association for Commercial Real Estate (HRACRE),
• Hampton Roads Utility & Heavy Contractors Association (HRUHCA),
• Professional Construction Estimators Association (PCEA),
• The Blue Book Building & Construction Network (GC Blue Book),
• U.S. Green Building Council-Hampton Roads Chapter (USGBC-HR), and
• Urban Land Institute (ULI-HR).

The luncheon will feature Virginia Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling as the Keynote Speaker. It is recommended that everyone pre-register by midnight on August 19th in order to be guaranteed a seat at lunch.

Schedule of events:

10:30 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. On-site registration open

11:15 a.m. – 1:45 p.m. Luncheon

2:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Exhibit Hall open and Breakout Sessions

4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Cocktail Reception in Exhibit Hall

Three tracks of concurrent educational sessions will occur after lunch and include:

• Track 1 – Military and Hampton Roads Economic Development
• Track 2 – Energy and Transportation
• Track 3 – Facilities

Confirmed speakers include:

• Amy Parkhurst – Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance and Dana Dickens – Hampton Roads Partnership
• Warren Hammer and Brian Kroll- Virginia Economic Development Partnership and Russell Held- Virginia Port Authority
• Paul Wang – NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic
• Josh Prueher – Virginia Offshore Wind Coalition
• Bob Fenning and Russ Pearson – Old Dominion University and John Massey – Tidewater Community College
• Jorge Nadal – Division of Army Corp of Engineers Mid-Atlantic
• Thelma Drake- Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation

The Exhibit Hall, open after lunch for everyone to visit booths, had over 125 exhibitors scheduled to participate as of the beginning of August.

The Hampton Roads Chamber is accepting applications through August 20th for business and community leaders to participate in LEAD Hampton Roads (LHR), an Executive Leadership Program, Class of 2011. The Chamber’s leadership seminars represent the diversity of the region and include those who demonstrate leadership and a sincere commitment, motivation and interest in serving the region.

LEAD Hampton Roads has been connecting leaders, organizations, and business to regional opportunities for 23 years. The program brings together forward-thinking leaders from top organizations to address critical business, community and regional challenges, to exchange ideas, to see the region from “behind the scenes” and to interact with experts in leadership strategy and business and personal growth.

“LHR is an essential experience for anyone wanting to understand the complexities of the Hampton Roads Region. You may not want to run for political office when you’re done, but you’ll have a much better handle on the challenges facing our local and state governments, the opportunities for our economy and the enormous talent we have to make our area more prosperous and livable.” —Joel Rubin, LHR Member Pres. & CEO, Rubin Communications Group

LEAD Hampton Roads’ Class of 2010 and guests during their General Assembly visit to Richmond. Read more.

LHR gives existing and emerging leaders a unique opportunity to serve the region with increased effectiveness and to expand their professional networks. LHR participants share a vision of a new and improved Hampton Roads and play an active and crucial role in making that vision a reality. LHR takes an honest look at the social, economic, political and educational needs within the region and provides our leaders with the tools needed to devise real solutions that bring about change and growth.

The LHR experience is an exciting combination of relationship-building, learning, problem-solving, civic engagement and personal growth. During the LHR course, participants will work with business and community leaders from all walks of life, focusing on some of the essential aspects of great leadership and how it applies to our community and our prosperity. The LHR program lasts for nine months, starting with a two-day retreat. Subsequently, the LHR participants meet once a month for full-day sessions involving educational and cultural excursions.

For more information, please contact Desiree Ellison at dellison@hrccva.com, 757-664-2516, or Angela Blackwell Carter at ablackwell@hrccva.com, 757-664-2528, or visit at LEAD Hampton Roads 500 E. Main Street, Suite 700 Norfolk, VA 23510. Find LHR online at www.LeadHamptonRoads.com.

LEAD Hampton Roads, a program of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, is a 501-C3 leadership development program now entering its 23nd year of serving the region. The organization has over 1,200 graduates who actively provide bold leadership to more than 800 regional businesses, non-profit organizations and governmental agencies. LEAD Hampton Roads serves the 17 communities that comprise the greater Hampton Roads area.

Save the Hampton Roads Film Office

“This year’s CIO 100 awards draws well-deserved attention to companies that are not only innovating with IT but creating genuine business value as well,” said Maryfran Johnson, Editor in Chief of CIO magazine & Events. “These winning companies and their IT organizations are an inspiration to businesses everywhere.”

“This is a great honor for WHRO,” said Bert Schmidt, President and Chief Executive Officer of WHRO.  “We’re very gratified to be included in such excellent company, and even more so to be the first public broadcaster to be recognized.”

Chuck Williams, WHRO’s IT Director, says, “Successfully moving educational content online has allowed students and teachers virtually instant access to material they may not have otherwise been able to utilize in their educational pursuits.  Hampton Roads Virtual Learning Center and Virtual Virginia have given students the ability to take classes they wouldn’t have been able to take in their own schools.  The online professional development has also allowed educators an opportunity to learn how to teach in this new and quickly growing environment.”  WHRO’s newest efforts with videoclassroom.org and PBS DLL are further augmenting the station’s ability to enhance the educational content to which students and teachers have access.

The 2010 CIO 100 awards will be presented at the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, on August 24th at the conclusion of the twelfth annual CIO 100 Symposium® and Awards Ceremony.

The recipients of this year’s CIO 100 award were selected from company submissions detailing their innovative IT and business initiatives. A team of judges reviewed the applications, and CIO editors vote on the final 100.

Complete coverage of the 2010 CIO 100 awards will be published in the August 1st issue of CIO magazine and is available at http://cio.com/cio100/2010/1 with detail on WHRO’s award at http://cio.com/cio100/detail/2040.

About WHRO
WHRO is a regional media company that promotes education, culture and citizenship to the citizens of Hampton Roads, Virginia through a variety of services.  Every day, thousands of viewers and listeners tune in to broadcast programming on WHRO’s four public television and seven public radio stations.  Since its founding in 1961 to support education, WHRO has employed creativity and technology to serve its mission to enrich audiences through content that educates, entertains and promotes understanding. Owned by the 18 local school divisions, WHRO delivers educational and new media services to 286,000 students and 25,000 educators per month. http://WHRO.org

About CIO Magazine
CIO produces award-winning content and community resources for information technology executives thriving and prospering in this fast-paced era of business, as well as creates opportunities for information technology and consumer marketers to reach them. CIO has a long and proud tradition of honoring leading companies for business and technology leadership and innovations through its award programs and special issues. http://CIO.com

Story and photos by Kelly Copeland

This year the tournament stretched 20 city blocks, and there were 882 registered teams. All levels of ability from beginner to professional, as well as all age ranges, competed in men’s and women’s single gender, co-ed, college, and professional match ups. Teams came from all over the country with nearly 20 states represented.

This tournament even attracted international teams with some players coming all the way from Brazil, Germany, and Norway. Vendors lined the boardwalk selling everything from handbags and jewelry to funnel cake and snow cones, and they weren’t the only ones benefitting from the huge crowd.

Nearly every hotel was completely booked. Between matches, the soccer players quickly turned to soccer fans as they flocked to the nearby restaurants and bars to cheer on Team USA in the World Cup, who was playing in a much anticipated match against England that afternoon.

The 2010 North American Sand Soccer Tournament did not disappoint. It had such a positive impact on the area, bringing in big business for the local economy and was a ton of fun for all of the participants. It was the perfect way to kick off the summer season.

Kelly Copeland is a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina Wilmington where she majored in Film Studies and minored in Theatre. While searching for the right position on her communication-focused career path, Kelly is interning at WCTV, the City of Chesapeake’s television station, where she is working on Channel 48 News and “Thinking Out Loud” among other programs. She’s also covering Tourism and Arts & Culture for the Hampton Roads blog. Contact Kelly at kellycplnd@gmail.com.

Frizzell and Thomas produced and directed a realistic job preview video for Hope House. The video shows the typical day in the life of a Hope House service provider and will be used in the hiring process and to better retain such employees.

The Hope House Foundation, which provides individualized supported living services for and with adults with developmental disabilities in their own homes or apartments, serves more than 130 people living in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach, Virginia.

“To me, freedom is living the life of my choice.”  –Stephen Curtis; photo credit: Hope House

Frizzell, who has been the commissioner of the Hampton Roads Film Office since 2006 (a division of the Hampton Roads Partnership), was approached by Hope House Executive Committee President, Matt Fine. He asked for help in producing the video. Hope House’s bid responses on the work had been as high as $25,000 to do the job. Frizzell quickly contacted Thomas and asked her to direct and help produce the project. They then recruited dozens of members of the Hampton Roads film and television production and acting community and, with an all-volunteer team, produced the video. Local WAVY 10 News Anchor Alveta Ewell, who also donated her time, hosts the video.

The results were a video that has been well received by prospective Hope House employees, has helped with Hope House service provider retention and came at no cost to the foundation. To learn more about the Hope House Foundation, visit www.Hope-House.org.

Lynne Seagle, Executive Director, and adults served by Hope House Foundation share their stories. Click on photo above or visit: Direct video link

The Southeast Virginia Tourism Alliance (SEVTA), Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce (HRCC), Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance (HREDA), and Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce (VPCC) have announced that Southwest Airlines will feature Hampton Roads in the September 2010 issue of its award‐winning in-flight magazine, Spirit.

Consisting of 20+ pages, “Meet Hampton Roads” – as an in-depth feature – will take a comprehensive look at the economic drivers and industry sectors that shape the lifestyles and business landscape of the region and highlight local economic development initiatives with specific focus on the tourism industry, education and healthcare resources, real estate and technology. Unique characteristics of Hampton Roads that heighten the quality of life here will also be featured, such as award-winning attractions, numerous dining and shopping options, festivals and special events.

This is an ideal opportunity to showcase the unique combination of culture, business and lifestyle that make America’s First Region, in the Heart of the Mid‐Atlantic, one of the nation’s most viable and vibrant places to visit, live, work, and prosper.

It is phenomenal editorial coverage for our area. Support for this effort may be made through the submission of story ideas or through the purchase of advertising space in the publication. By taking advantage of the promotional potential of this feature, we can differentiate the region and its unique competitive advantages and help answer the question: “Where (and What) is Hampton Roads?”

According to materials provided by Southwest Airlines, they are the number one domestic airline with over 11 million monthly passengers and the market leader in and out of Norfolk International Airport. Spirit Magazine has a measured monthly readership of 3.2 million, making this a powerful venue for promoting our area’s businesses, schools, and organizations. Southwest Airlines Spirit readers are sophisticated, upscale consumers and business leaders who fly regularly. This feature will put Hampton Roads front and center, reaching higher-tier business leaders and corporate decision-makers who are directly responsible for their companies’ purchasing, expansion and relocation to new areas. Spirit readers are nearly five times more likely to be C-Level leadership than the average U.S. consumer. Plus, airline customers are the most active leisure travelers who will bring tourism dollars to our market.

In addition to being featured in the September issue, which will be available in the seat-back pockets on all aircraft in the Southwest fleet, “Meet Hampton Roads” will also be available for one year on Spirit Magazine’s website, spiritmag.com.

This is a strong opportunity to present Hampton Roads to a broad national and international audience. Editorial questions or suggestions may be submitted to destinationpubs@paceco.com. For questions about advertising with the feature, please contact Chris Denby with Spirit Magazine and the Destination Publishing Group at chris.denby@paceco.com. Magazine staff is teaming with local writers for this effort.