HR Partnership | March 5, 2010

There is one over-arching goal for the first five-year plan called Vision Hampton Roads:

“With proper foresight, continuous planning and dynamic economic development, Hampton Roads will be recognized internationally as a region fueled by Innovation, Intellectual and Human Capital, Infrastructure and a Sense of Place.”

What started as just another economic development planning tool, one intended to aid local governments in decision-making and with accompanying federally mandated guidelines in order to qualify for federal grants, has become so much more.

While the “Vision” document does analyze regional and local economic conditions within Hampton Roads and identify projects, programs and initiatives that address economic development, this process was very different from past such economic development strategies.

Public participation was a key element. “We need more opportunities like this to voice our opinion for the future of Hampton Roads,” said one public commenter.

It was clear that economic development of today is much more far-reaching than what property is developed to become the next shopping center or housing development.

It’s important to address who and what is Hampton Roads as a region, who lives here and why, what our business identity is, how we attract entrepreneurs, creativity and innovation and what is new and different in today’s planning, to name a few. These common themes, labeled “Sense of Place,” emerged to be almost as important as the original goal of the process: to achieve U.S. Dept. of Commerce Economic Development Administration’s Federal Economic Development District Designation.

After months and months of meetings involving a broad cross-section of our region’s communities and significant public input, the document is complete and now posted at http://VisionHamptonRoads.com.

But, this is just the beginning. The real work starts now.

Hampton Roads Partnership (“Vision” lead organization) President and CEO, Dana Dickens, is making the rounds of public meetings, governmental and organizational alike, delivering the message of alignment that is Hampton Road’s first comprehensive region-wide economic development strategy.

Click here for the Virginia Beach Council Meeting Video.

To make progress in each city or county of Hampton Roads, clear goals must be set and aligned regionally, public involvement must be considered and success must be measured, says Dickens.

At a recent City of Portsmouth planning retreat, Liz Povar, director of business development for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, said “Teams that win play as partners,” adding that she knows that’s not always easy on the local level. If any theme also emerged during the Portsmouth retreat, it was the value of regional cooperation.

All citizen comments may be found in the Public Responsiveness Summary, added as Addenda #1 due to its length as it is longer than the document itself. Participants can see how their comments were integrated into the final plan.

Some especially poignant comments include:

“As you move forward with this activity, make certain you are seeing these visions through the eyes of the different generations, i.e., k-12, college age, new career starters, mature family builders, and retiring people. Each group’s vision is affected by their current life needs,” cautioned one resident.

“Vision Hampton Roads is a comprehensive, objective and very credible document. If it does in fact increase momentum to think and act regionally, its value – and impact – to the area’s economic vitality and quality of life will be tremendous,” added one respondent.

Overall, the strategy-creation experience in Hampton Roads has been about setting into motion an ongoing process that is embraced by our region. “Vision” planning has placed Hampton Roads on a path to regional transformation by embedding a working process in all that we do as we… think, live and act regionally.

A separate Executive Summary has been posted as well and includes a table of contents for the complete document. Specific task forces to implement the plan are in the development stages and volunteers are welcomed. Citizens of the region are encouraged to review “Vision Hampton Roads” and stake a claim to the component (or components) where you can help make a difference.

Volunteer at Contact@VisionHamptonRoads.com.

Click to read more...

Category: About Hampton Roads, Economy, Government & Citizens, Military Bastion | No Comments »
Tags: Civic Engagement, Economy, Hampton Roads, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Vision

HR Partnership | March 3, 2010

Join the Hampton Roads Center for Civic Engagement as they present the 2nd Annual Civic Engagement Summit: “Searching for Citizenship” on Saturday, April 10, 2010 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm at the Hampton Roads Convention Center, 1610 Coliseum Dr., Hampton, VA.

Guest Speakers are:

• Robert J. O’Neill, Jr. Executive Director, International City/County Management Association (ICMA), widely recognized for his “reinvention” of the government of Hampton as city manager from 1984 to 1997, and
• William Schneider, PhD, Author, scholar and former Senior Political Analyst for CNN. Schneider was born in Portsmouth and attended Woodrow Wilson High School. He is one of the country’s foremost political analysts, serving as CNN’s senior political analyst from 1990 to 2009. He is Hirst Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University and Distinguished Senior Fellow and Resident Scholar at Third Way, a Washington think tank.

The event is free and open to the public. Pre-registration is required due to limited space.

Click to read more...

Category: Government & Citizens | 1 Comment »
Tags: HRCCE

HR Partnership | February 22, 2010

Mayor Paul Fraim delivered his Norfolk State of the City Address (full text here) on Friday, February 19th to a standing room only crowd at the downtown Norfolk Waterside Marriott. The event kicks off the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce spring State of the City Series.

Highlights of 2009:

• The Great Recession is over but now there are no stimulus funds to offset shortfalls in the city’s budget this year or the projected $54M gap for FY2011;
• “There will be consequences…. this is not business as usual,” said Fraim;

There’s more…

Click to read more...

Category: About Hampton Roads, Government & Citizens | No Comments »
Tags: Hampton Roads, Norfolk, Virginia

HR Partnership | February 15, 2010

by Missy Schmidt, Communication Manager, Hampton Roads Partnership

The Virginia Chamber of Commerce met for its annual “Chamber Day” at the Capitol in Richmond on January 27th, an event designed to promote grassroots involvement with the business of the legislature especially in matters that affect commerce and economic prosperity. Professional lobbyists aren’t the only ones who can have a voice with the General Assembly (GA) in Richmond thanks to the World Wide Web and great online resources like the Commonwealth-provided http://leg1.state.va.us and the privately funded RichmondSunlight.com. And, groups like the Virginia Chamber help facilitate face-to-face engagement.

George Washington statue, 1788, in the Capitol Rotunda – Richmond, Virginia

I had the pleasure of joining the Hampton Roads Chamber’s LEAD Hampton Roads (LHR) group on their trek to Richmond for the day, the largest of the state’s regional contingents. High speed rail (HSR) and getting Hampton Roads on “The Main Line” was the message for day from members of LHR’s Class of 2010. They lobbied passionately in the halls of the GA to…

Click to read more...

Category: Government & Citizens, Transportation | No Comments »
Tags: General Assembly, Hampton Roads, Virginia

HR Partnership | February 15, 2010

A Federal Green Jobs Legislative Conference will be presented in Hampton Roads on March 2nd by the Green Economic Alliance and Green Jobs Alliance featuring federal officials from the Department of Energy (DoE) and Department of Labor (DoL) and other key national and state “green jobs” policy makers. These officials will brief the region’s business, labor, government and community leaders and citizens on recent and pending federal legislation directly impacting green economic growth, green workforce training and green job creation.

The conference will be held as three events across Hampton Roads on March 2, 2010.

Two invitation-only events will be held:

• Peninsula Breakfast ($25/person) at Thomas Nelson Community College-Mary T. Christian Auditorium, 7:30am-10:00am
• Southside Luncheon ($25/person) at Tidewater Community College-Portsmouth Campus, 11:30am-2:00pm

One Evening Public Event will be held at no charge. This event is driven in large part by community organizations that interact most with the public such as community colleges, Virginia Employment Commission (VEC), career and technical schools, workforce development boards, faith and community groups. DoE, DoL and their state and local counterparts will explain how these green legislative policies translate into reality in their lives including possible jobs, training, certifications and where to find and access the information they need.

For more information:

• Brian Sullivan (804) 929-4102 or bsullivan@greenjobsalliance.org
• Randy Gilliland (757) 814-0001 or rgilliland@greenjobsalliance.org

Green Jobs Alliance (GJA) is a federally registered 501c3 nonprofit.

Click to read more...

Category: Education & Workforce, Government & Citizens, Research & Technology | 1 Comment »
Tags: Economy, Green, Workforce

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.

---

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.

Click to read more...

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

HR Partnership | February 9, 2010

The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them. ~ Albert Einstein

by Kelly Jackson, Director of the WHRO Center for Regional Citizenship, a Community Engagement Initiative

Just about every sector of society has felt the impact of the recent economic crisis. Jobs have been lost, budgets have been cut and charitable giving is down. Foundations have lost money and corporate philanthropy is declining. At the same time, community needs are on the rise.

While we have many challenges ahead, history has shown that the greatest innovations often happen when people pull together during tough times. Our current economic hard times may actually be the stimulus we need to discover new ways of solving community problems.

As we are forced to be more efficient and effective stewards of our limited resources, we should look beyond our individual interests and consider how we can find solutions through collaboration. Instead of developing efforts independently, we should be creating networks that leverage unlikely relationships across diverse stakeholders.

Complex problems are best approached from multiple perspectives and our community could benefit from actively involving citizens, government, business, philanthropy, nonprofit, media and education in addressing public challenges.

WHRO’s Center for Regional Citizenship has a mission to engage the community in shaping the long-term economic, environmental and social prosperity in Hampton Roads. Since the Center’s founding in 2005, we have addressed several important local issues including early childhood education, the closing of the Fort Monroe Army Base, and childhood obesity.

Considerable local and national funding has enabled the Center to broaden and deepen its efforts to impact childhood obesity, but the current economic climate requires that we look beyond corporate and foundation financial support to build community and impact positive change.

Giving circles are one example of a new approach. Giving circles are made up of individuals who pool their resources and then decide together how to focus their efforts. According to a May 2009 report by the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University and The University of Nebraska at Omaha, American philanthropy is entering an era in which donors want to be more engaged in their communities. “The Impact of Giving Together: Giving Circles’ Influence on Members’ Philanthropic and Civic Behaviors, Knowledge and Attitudes,” highlights how philanthropic institutions across the U.S. are helping to create and/or support giving circles as a way to cultivate new and more diverse donors, enhance broad understanding of philanthropy and community issues, and build community cohesiveness to tackle tough problems.

As we move forward, we must be more creative in our approaches to solving public challenges and meeting community needs. The stakes are high and the time is right for all of us to be more engaged in the betterment of our communities. Our future depends on it.

Click to read more...

Category: Economy, Government & Citizens | No Comments »
Tags: Economy, Nonprofit, Philanthropy, WHRO

HR Partnership | February 8, 2010

The City of Hampton has already received accolades for its Hampton Youth Civic Engagement program, where nearly two decades after its inception, the program is still in operation and recognized as a national model for fostering civic engagement. A study of Hampton’s college-age residents has found they outperform peer groups in three key measures of citizenship: the ability to engage in civic discourse, passion for their community and leadership skills. Fewer families are fleeing the city, crime is down and Hampton’s voting rate is about 20 percent higher than similar communities.

Hampton has also been named one of the top digital cities in America, and its Mayor has started her own social media connection with citizens on The Mayor’s Blog.

It only made sense that the next logical step in the engagement evolution would be for the Hampton City Council to adopt a new citizen-friendly participation format for its public meetings. The “Audience Granted to the Public” portion of the meeting, which has traditionally taken place at the end of the meeting, will now be held from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. The normal business meeting time for public hearings and other transactional business will remain at 7 p.m.

Both the “Audience Granted to the Public” and the business meeting sessions will continue to be televised. However, the earlier time for the “Audience Granted to the Public” session will provide a more predictable and convenient opportunity for residents to be heard.

This new format aligns with Council’s ongoing commitment to focus on citizen engagement. All Council Members embrace the citizen engagement which occurs at Council meetings and other civic events. However, they shared a concern that the current format of Council meetings has required citizens to wait until the end of the Council session to be heard. The ending time of the Council business meeting varies from meeting to meeting and, at times, is very late in the evening. These factors are barriers for some residents’ participation. By providing a more convenient time for participation, the City of Hampton hopes to increase citizen engagement even more.

Another added benefit to the change is that residents will have the opportunity to address matters of concern with City Council members before the business meeting portion of the agenda. While residents will still be allowed to speak during the 7 p.m. business portion of the meeting for public hearing items, this earlier “Audience Granted to the Public” time will allow residents to address any item on the Council agenda (such as consent agenda items) before Council consideration at the business portion of the meeting.

The new “Audience Granted to the Public” approach will begin at the Wednesday, February 10 meeting. There will also be a transitional period during the month of February that will allow speakers who were not aware of the change to speak at the end of the business meeting.

Tell us more about positive government and citizen connections being made in Hampton Roads at Contact@HRP.org.

Click to read more...

Category: About Hampton Roads, Government & Citizens | 1 Comment »
Tags: Sense of Place

HR Partnership | February 7, 2010

It was the early 1980s. Hampton Roads as a distinct geographic region was nothing more than a concept.

Then a bunch of community leaders, including media giants on both sides of the water, got the idea that maybe – just maybe – all the localities on both the Southside and the Peninsula could turn into a region, if not in practice, at least on paper.

Think of it: one region, one U.S. Census area, one voice and, best of all, one unit for national advertising dollars.

Leaders lobbied Congress. They traveled to Washington, D.C., and talked to anyone who would listen.

In 1984, after years of pushing the concept, the Hampton Roads Metropolitan Statistical Area was born, combining the Southside and the Peninsula into one economic and demographic hotbed.

Last year was the 25th anniversary of the MSA….

Click to read more...

Category: About Hampton Roads, Government & Citizens, Military Bastion | No Comments »
Tags: Hampton Roads, Sense of Place

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…

Click to read more...

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