Continue reading »]]> Brought to you by the Hampton Roads Partnership since 2008, SmartRegion.org, the blog and its accompanying monthly e-Newsletter, is on hiatus.

Stay informed with essentials for your inbox through our recommended bloggers, bookmarked organizations, the region’s communities and traditional news sources (via the website links provided on the left-hand sidebar).

Regional News:

• Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce
• Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce
• Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance
• Hampton Roads Planning District Commission’s Review
• Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization E-Newsletter 
• Port of Virginia’s blog

And if innovation is on your mind, our favorites:

• Hampton Roads Innovations (the collaboration site)
• Innovate!HamptonRoads (the region’s connection for entrepreneurs, ideas and investment)
• On the Road in Hampton Roads (the entrepreneur’s social media guys)

Questions? Contact@HRP.org.

Need to reach our former editor? She’s on LinkedIn.

Continue reading »]]> Inventors and entrepreneurs struggle to launch their ideas.

By Philip Newswanger for Inside Business, originally posted on January 13, 2012

They are flummoxed by a morass of red tape and nervous investors, who, in this weary economic climate, want an immediate return.

Old Dominion University may have an answer, or at least is offering solutions to the problem of transforming ideas into profits.

The idea, according to two ODU officials, is to marry the pursuit of knowledge, a mission of universities, with the management of knowledge, a private sector endeavor.

Tom Osha, president and CEO of Innovation Research Park at ODU, and Jerry Robertson, executive director of the university’s Gateway initiative, recently highlighted this connection between a university and inventors and entrepreneurs in Hampton.

The Jan. 5 event, called “Working with ODU in the Aerospace Center,” was sponsored by Innovate!Hampton Roads, an initiative launched by the Hampton Roads Partnership to drive jobs and the regional economy.

Osha said technology is getting more, not less, expensive, so companies must change how they do business.

ODU has an economic development role, Osha said, but it must become an active instead of passive participant in the economy.

The private sector can leverage the leading research of universities, such as modeling and simulation and oceanography, Osha said.

“But that’s easy to say and hard to do,” he said. “Businesses and universities are like Mars and Venus.”

“I once was in business. I knew who could say yes. In the world of universities, I know who can say no.”

ODU’s Business Gateway is a single entry point and the front door for all of the university’s services, Osha told the audience.

So what are the resources?

Robertson explained.

They are the students, the faculties and the specialized laboratories where experiments and tests, such as materials testing and software development, are conducted.

Robertson listed some examples of companies ODU has helped, such as Rebatt Inc., Solo Manufacturing and Bay Beyond.

Working with ODU, Rebatt reduced its costs by $209,000 over five years due to a redesign of the company’s assembly line to recondition camera batteries.

For Solo, ODU redesigned the assembly of a pump, which saved the company $5 million, boosted its revenues and lowered the high incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome employees were contracting because of the previous assembly operation.

Bay Beyond, a bunch of neighbors who concocted a special spice, needed help to satisfy a contract with Kroger grocery stores.

ODU stepped up.

“Kroger wanted the product,” Robertson said. “The client couldn’t keep up, but they did get national exposure.”

Osha and Robertson addressed the question of who owns the intellectual property, a fear among entrepreneurs.

Osha said ODU has taken some new approaches to the intellectual property rights question, such as the entrepreneur working for hire, since he or she has an idea but no funds.

“We would rather take a little on the front end and then take a payout down the road,” Osha said.

In the fall, the ODU Board of Visitors launched the ODU Innovation Foundation, which creates a safe harbor for entrepreneurs, Osha said, independent of the university and more flexible.

Examples of ventures via the foundation include sweat equity shops or industry “seeded” projects, conducted within the foundation.

ODU is looking at other ways to transform ideas into companies and profits, such as creating an express licensing program for university research to speed research to the commercial marketplace.

North Carolina created one in 2010 through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which is called the Carolina Express License Agreement.

Virginia doesn’t have one. But state officials at the Secretariat of Commerce and Trade are considering it, Osha said.

He also said they are considering the idea of subsidizing intellectual property and products.

Osha praised the draw of ODU’s Innovation Research Park, saying it creates a sense of place for entrepreneurs.

To bring people together, the park hosts a monthly event called “unWined.”

Continue reading »]]> Story by Rachel Judy for Regent University, posted January 12, 2012; photo by Alex Perry

As the president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)—one of the nation’s top-ranked schools for undergraduate education—Dr. Freeman Hrabowski III understands the importance of innovation and education. Drawing upon his own experiences as a scholar and educator, Hrabowski spoke to a crowd of approximately 400 about this topic at Regent University’s Thursday, Jan. 12, Executive Leadership Series (ELS) luncheon.

Held each month, ELS brings together businessmen and women in Hampton Roads to hear from business and leadership experts such as Hrabowski.

Hrabowski’s remarks centered on the need for American society to encourage education coupled with hard work—the result being innovation and progress. He began with a story about his own mother’s introduction to literature as a teenager and spoke of how it changed her life. “The more she read, the better a reader she became, and the better reader she became, the more she enjoyed it,” he said.

Academically, the United States is up against nations such as China and India—known for producing a significant number of scholars in science and technology, he explained, and it is up to the United States to encourage its students to take their knowledge and education to the next level.

“We must teach [our students] the importance of hard work in addition to creativity,” he said of the United States.

Ultimately, he continued, “whatever it is that is really important to us as individuals, as a society, we will be known by that thing.”

At UMBC, Hrabowski and his faculty want students to be known for their hard work and creativity, and they work tirelessly to encourage them to apply these qualities to the things they’re passionate about. “If a student comes in with an interest in an area, it is our responsibility to help them succeed,” he explained.

When it comes to innovation—both in education and in other areas and industries—Hrabowski believes that it must start with asking questions. “A part of innovation has to do with asking the questions we’ve never asked,” he said. “It is our responsibility to ask good questions.” That, he said, starts with creating an environment that makes people feel comfortable asking questions.

Those questions lead to innovation in teaching and prompt students to stretch themselves and succeed.

As an educator, Hrabowski is convinced that education is important for the future of the United States and it is up to educators to promote it and improve it successfully. Quoting his mother, who herself became a teacher, he said, “I now understand that teachers touch eternity through their students.”

Hrabowski has served as president of UMBC since 1992. His research and publications focus on science and math education with special emphasis on minority participation and performance. In 2011, he received both the TIAA-CREF Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence and the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Academic Leadership Award, recognized by many as the nation’s highest awards among higher education leaders. Also in 2011, he was named one of seven Top American Leaders by The Washington Post and the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership.

In 2009, Time magazine named him one of “America’s 10 Best College Presidents,” and in 2008, he was named one of “America’s Best Leaders” by U.S. News & World Report.

PR/NEWS CONTACT:  Mindy Hughes, Public Relations, contact at (757) 352.4095 or mhughes@regent.edu.

Previous posts about Dr. Hrabowski.

Continue reading »]]> When:  February 7 to April 10, 2012, 7 p.m.-9 p.m.

Where:  Tidewater Community College, Regional Workforce Development Center, 7000 College Drive, Suffolk, VA

About the Seminar:  Contracting with the federal government, especially in the emerging Homeland Security and Defense industries, has many business opportunities… if you know the tricks of the trade. Only at the Government Contracting Business Management 2012 can you learn from top executives about what it takes to succeed in this growing field.

This is the fastest, smartest way to get the edge you need – perfect for transitioning military service members and civil servants, budding entrepreneurs, defense contractors or anyone planning to build a new career in government contracting.

What You Will Learn:

• Strategic Planning
• Marketing
• Proposal Development Process
• Contract Performance
• Contract Administration and Contract Accounting
• Government Customer Expectations
• How to Subcontract with Prime Contractors
• Profitability and Administration
• Employee Relations
• Small Business Resources

Register here

Continue reading »]]> By Bill Cresenzo for Inside Business, posted January 6, 2012

2012 – 2011 redux? As Hampton Roads begins another year, Inside Business asked the region’s business, government, civic, educational and community leaders to give readers an idea of what they would like to see happen in the year ahead and what they expect to see.

Leaders such as Greg Grootendorst, the chief economist with the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, who said, “The economic outlook for the coming year is likely to be one characterized by very modest growth.

“Hampton Roads remains entrenched in the process of recovering from the great recession,” he said. “The region has lost in excess of 50,000 jobs since payroll employment peaked in July of 2007; regional employment is now at the same level as it was in 2001.”

Vinod B. Agarwal, an economics professor at Old Dominion University, concurs with Grootendorst. The author of an annual regional economic forecast, Agarwal will present his findings at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 25 at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott at the annual economic forecast event. To register, call (757) 683-5138.

Agarwal said he expects the economy to pick up slightly in 2012, but it will continue to be a “jobless recovery.” While the economy might grow some, unemployment rates will remain steady or rise.

But there are other, exciting things on the business horizon. From Hampton Mayor Molly Ward to Jerry Bridges, the executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, to Dana Dickens, president of the Hampton Roads Partnership, inside this issue you’ll find what the region’s leaders believe 2012 will bring, as well as what they hope it will bring.

Recently seen on the Twitterverse:  What’s your wish for Hampton roads in 2012? See what Dana Dickens and other local leaders think. http://insidebiz.com/news/inside-business-story-257

The Year Ahead: E. Dana Dickens III President and CEO, Hampton Roads Partnership

My one wish for 2012 is that the many years of work in regional cooperation and collaboration by the Hampton Roads Partnership translate into true regional consensus, with significant results in growth and in greater diversification of the economy of Hampton Roads.

We can accomplish this if:

• Entrepreneurs have better access to capital, supported via a multimillion dollar fund organized by investors to promote “grow your own” economic development in the region.
• Taxpayers enjoy enhanced government services and lower taxes, supported via implementation of shared public services identified during the pilot program launched in 2011 with Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Chesapeake.
• Local government implements improved efficiencies and savings, supported via more Hampton Roads cities – and counties – joining in shared services projects across the region.
• Startup businesses achieve explosive growth thanks to mentors, supported via coaching provided by the region’s proven business leaders, both retired and active.
• Growth-oriented companies realize their entrepreneurial goals, supported via a cultural shift enabled by Innovate!HamptonRoads and its “Economic Gardening Network,” a suite of high-end, high-speed business growth resources.
• Serious networking and marketing happens for entrepreneurs, supported via successful events like Start Norfolk, active local entrepreneurs, metropolitan-focused academic institutions and the groups championing the region’s technology clusters of aerospace, bioscience, coastal energy, modeling and simulation, robotics and unmanned systems and sensors.
• Education in STEM/STEAM moves forward rapidly, supported via the various regional efforts such as a full-time boarding school, a governor’s school and curricular/extracurricular activities for public schools tied to Virginia’s standards of learning. [STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math. STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering and applied math.]

Continue reading »]]> By Danielle Walker for Inside Business, originally posted on November 4, 2011

Leaders in the region are shifting into go-mode to create science, technology, engineering and math-related educational havens.

Hampton officials are discussing plans for a residential public high school at Fort Monroe.

The proposed STEAM Academy, which would focus on science, technology, engineering and applied mathematics, would operate like a boarding school, serving 1,000 high school students throughout the state.

Not to be confused with the STEAM Academy plans bubbling at Fort Monroe, the Greater Norfolk Corp. also has plans for a school.

The nonprofit is leading efforts to start a governor’s school for science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, much like the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria.

Charles V. McPhillips, a partner at law firm Kaufman & Canoles in Norfolk, is leading GNC’s task force for the establishment of a STEM governor’s school for the Southside.

Norfolk’s School Board has shown initial support by voting that GNC develop a full proposal for other school systems to consider.

Currently, GNC’s task force has educators on board from Old Dominion University’s Frank Batten College of Engineering & Technology and Norfolk State University’s College of Science, Engineering and Technology.

McPhillips shared how achieving educational excellence in math and science is crucial to the region’s workforce – and its ability to compete with metro areas around the country and abroad.

Details of the proposed STEM governor’s school:

There are two different initiatives out there – both trying to serve the worthy goal of enhancing STEM efforts in Tidewater. The Fort Monroe plan is the STEAM Academy, which would be a boarding school for students throughout Virginia, approximately 1,000.

The Greater Norfolk Corp. plans have a similar academic orientation, but will focus on students in Hampton Roads.

This is not a boarding school but a full-day governor’s school for students in grades nine through 12.

The closest model to what we have been exploring is the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Northern Virginia. It’s ranked number one among all public high schools in the country by U.S. News & World Report and is a feeder school for MIT and some of the leading science and engineering college programs.

The GNC task force visited Thomas Jefferson this February.

The students are selected from an applicant pool that crosses city boundaries in Northern Virginia; the teachers are not lecturers as much as facilitators, as the students teach themselves through very sophisticated projects.

They are a ninth- through 12th- grade full-day school that has a basketball, football and debate team, and it attracts considerable support from the business community, which caught the attention of our group.

Why the business community should get involved or stay abreast of developments:

The educators [who visited Thomas Jefferson with GNC] were excited by the fact that the students wanted to be there, loved what they were doing, had high aspirations and were being taught how to think critically and independently.

What we see in it, from the business side – and why they’ve gained such support from the business community – is they see a future cadre of innovators, inventors, risk-takers, entrepreneurs and key employers, who can really drive that economy in the region.

On the status of governor’s school plans:

The Norfolk School Board voted to proceed with the development of a full proposal for consideration by other school systems in the Southside.

Norfolk is a central location and has an excess of infrastructure within Norfolk Public Schools, as it was built for a larger population of students than are enrolled now versus 30 or 40 years ago.

The assumption is that [the school] would be in Norfolk, but that’s part of what’s being worked out [with the school boards].

How this could be a “game changer” for Hampton Roads:

[That will be] through jobs that are going to be created going forward.

And if we don’t get in the game of producing the innovators, computer scientists or engineers that will come up with the next iPad, Google or technical breakthrough, we are not going to create companies or jobs for our sons and daughters.

We desperately need a game changer that allows this region to compete with the rest of the state and elsewhere.

We need to reach down into middle schools, particularly where we haven’t been getting these students, so they have a fair chance to get into this first-class governor’s school.

More on STEAM.

Continue reading »]]> From the ODU Business Gateway Professional Development Center’s October 2011 newsletter:

ODU Means Business for Hampton Roads – Hampton Roads Partnership’s Dana Dickens Explains…

Dana is helping to shape the global competitiveness and business landscape of Hampton Roads, Virginia. Your entrepreneurial endeavor, current job, or future career could be the result of Dana’s leadership in bringing together the right entrepreneurs, businesses, and investors that create new local jobs, global opportunities, and the resulting new wealth for you and others.

As the President and CEO of the Hampton Roads Partnership (HRP), Dana is responsible for realizing the policies and strategic initiatives as laid out by the HRP members, which includes 17 elected officials and leaders from the private business sector, education, military, and labor divisions.

As a business person, inventor, engineer, or technology-related professional, you could very well benefit from the HRP’s Innovate!HamptonRoads™ and ODU’s Business Gateway. They share the goal of accelerating, stimulating, and commercializing local research and technology transfer. Both are committed to facilitating connections to entrepreneurial resources, local research, and technology clusters.

So that means … Read the rest of the story.

Pictured:  E. Dana Dickens, III, President and CEO, Hampton Roads Partnership

Continue reading »]]> Now is a great time to get a head start on a New Year’s resolution to do something good for you and your nonprofit organization. One suggestion? Sign up for an Academy for Nonprofit Excellence class.

Since its founding in 2005, the academy has trained 918 nonprofit professionals who represent 376 different nonprofits in Hampton Roads. More than 50 people have taken enough classes to earn certificates in nonprofit management.

The academy is sponsored by  Hampton Roads Community Foundation and Tidewater Community College. Classes are held in either downtown Norfolk at Opportunity Inc. (500 E. Plume Street, Suite 700 , Norfolk) or at the new Regional Workforce Development Center in Suffolk (7000 College Drive). The academy also has self-paced online nonprofit courses available.

Topics in early 2012 are:

• Jan 11 and 12 — Volunteer Recruitment: Maximizing Your Recruitment Efforts
• Jan. 24 — Keys to Successful Grant Writing
• Feb. 8 and 9 — Improving the Effectiveness of Your Nonprofit Board
• Feb. 21 — Training and Facilitation
• March 7 and 8 — Exceptional Customer Service: The Key to Building Loyalty
• March 27 — Mentoring Your Next Generation of Leaders
• April 11 and 12 — Human Resources for the Nonprofit Professional
• April 24 — Facebook. Blogging and Twitter

 Click here for details on class topics, registration, curriculum and class location. Sign up soon. Classes fill quickly.

Continue reading »]]>

Community Connections is a resource guide from Smart Beginnings-South Hampton Roads for families, caregivers and educators of young children, birth to age five in South Hampton Roads.

The first section highlights some important municipal resources listed by city. The remainder of the guide lists resources by subjects, like “Breastfeeding” or “Parent Education.” You may it find it helpful to read the entire Table of Contents first to see what types of resources are included. Please note that all resources specifically for military families and children are listed under “Military” and are not listed separately under the other subject headings.

This guide is not meant as a comprehensive list of community resources; rather it is an attempt to provide the most relevant municipal and non-profit resources for families, caregivers and educators of children. Please refer to the phone book, or www.KidsPriorityOne.org, www.ThePlanningCouncil.org, www.SmartBeginingsSHR.org and www.TidewaterParent.com for additional resources. The Planning Council offers free information and referral services that can be accessed by calling 211.

Download your free copy of Community Connections.

Continue reading »]]>

In honor of Veterans Day 2011, Opportunity Inc. launched “Hire-A-Vet Hampton Roads” with web resources to assist employers in reaching and hiring exiting military and other veterans (www.opp-inc.org/hireavet).

Employers understand that veterans bring with them a strong work ethic, marketable skills and proven leadership ability. “One of the most frequent questions asked by employers is:‘how do I reach exiting military and other veterans with job opportunities’ so we developed this website and employer hiring guide to help them better connect to veterans” said Judy Begland, President and CEO of Opportunity Inc.

“An Employer’s Guide to Hiring Exiting Military Personnel and Other Veterans in Hampton Roads” features step-by-step instructions for using no-cost, readily available tools to identify and reach veterans as potential employees. It is available as a PDF download from the Hire-A-Vet Hampton Roads webpage. Additionally, there are a variety of resource links to further assist employers and veterans seeking employment.

About Opportunity Inc.
Opportunity Inc. is the staff organization for the Hampton Roads Workforce Development Board, serving eight localities in South and Western Hampton Roads. OppInc. One Stop Workforce Centers, a consortium managed by Opportunity Inc, operates and/or participates in three One Stop Workforce Centers in Norfolk, Franklin and Suffolk. The organization serves the need of businesses for trained and qualified workers by supporting initiatives that develop the skills of adults and youth to meet the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s economy. For more information, visit  http://www.opp-inc.org.