Norfolk
After nine years at its helm, the departing chief executive of the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance said the organization still wrestles with ways to identify the region to companies that might invest here.
Maritime-related businesses throughout the world know where Hampton Roads is, but alliance representatives often encounter blank stares when they mention the region's name to other companies, Jones Hooks, its president and chief executive officer, said Wednesday.
Many of the nation's metro areas lack the quality of Hampton Roads' work force and cultural amenities but have little difficulty attracting new businesses because of their highly visible names, said Hooks, who is scheduled to leave his post at the end of the month.
The organization, which has a budget of slightly more than $3 million this year, relies on funding from municipalities and businesses. It has a staff of 16.
Its goal is to bring expansion-minded companies to Hampton Roads for face-to-face meetings with the development officials of cities and counties in the region.
Hooks, a 55-year-old Georgia native, is leaving to become executive director of the Jekyll Island State Park Authority, which manages the barrier island near Savannah. His responsibilities will include overseeing a major redevelopment effort on the island.
His biggest frustration as alliance CEO, Hooks said in a get-together with reporters, was the inability to attract a major corporate headquarters to Hampton Roads.
"A lot of that is beyond our control," he said, because companies no longer relocate their headquarters at the pace they once did. Also, efforts to attract a major corporate headquarters have been hampered by the absence of direct airline service to the West Coast, he said.
One accomplishment during Hooks' tenure as CEO was the alliance's merger three years ago with the Peninsula Alliance for Economic Development. Florence Kingston, director of the Newport News development department, said Hooks was sensitive to concerns on the Peninsula that its localities might be overshadowed, and he strived to keep the alliance's marketing balanced.
"The way he pulled the two organizations together was incredibly noteworthy," Kingston said.
While promoting the region's economic diversity, he also elevated the image of Hampton Roads as a home of high technology, she said.
Hooks' tenure as CEO also was marked by a more aggressive promotion of Hampton Roads to businesses overseas, which included presentations last year to several companies in China and India.
The U.S. economy's slowdown has made it more difficult for the alliance staff to line up appointments with business prospects in this country, Hooks acknowledged. The alliance, he said, has postponed a trip to China because of concerns among some Chinese businesses about U.S. business conditions.
However, companies elsewhere in the world, including Germany and the United Kingdom, remain interested in investment opportunities in the United States, including Hampton Roads, Hooks said. Members of the alliance's staff are scheduled to participate in several overseas marketing programs later this year, including one at the Farnborough International Air Show in Farnborough, England, in mid-July.
Last week, the alliance board tapped Amy Parkhurst, a senior vice president who has been with the organization for more than a decade, to be its interim president and CEO. Parkhurst is highly capable but "made it clear to us that she is not a candidate," said Mike Barrett, vice chairman of the alliance and chairman of the committee searching for Hooks' successor.
The alliance, said Hooks, is prepared for a smooth transition while the committee lines up his successor. "Our budget," he said, "is in place. Our calendar is in place, so there is no reason for us to miss a beat just because of a change in the presidency."
A University of Georgia graduate, Hooks worked on Capitol Hill for a Georgia congressman and later held several economic-development posts in Georgia. Before taking over as CEO at the Hampton Roads alliance in August 1999, he had been senior manager in the strategic relocation and expansion services practice of KPMG, the accounting firm, in Atlanta.
Tom Shean, (757) 446-2379, tom.shean@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
This area is a sleeping giant!
The problem is, you have a vocal minority who are anti-everything when it comes to growth, construction, transportation, and all other issues that comes along with being a large city/region! I agree, if it's the country life that you want, it may be time to look beyond this region of nearly 2 million people. Unfortunately for those vocal few, the silent-majority understands what it takes to grow as a region and what it takes to attract well-paying businesses to this region and keep our college grads in the area. This area is ripe to take advantage of our geographical location and all the wonderful things that you can only find here. You have to offer college grads employment, affordable housing, and entertainment options to persuade them to stay at home. Finally, I don't care how much taxes they take from my paycheck if our region can duplicate the success that cities like Charlotte has achieved while we continue to stagnate!
Found the info
I googled earlier after I posted and the article I found (Chicago Tribune) said $40K average for the Canon plant.
Actually, at the
Actually, at the announcement, they never mentioned the actual salary range, but did say they would invest $600,000,000 and hire an additional 1,100 employees and that they were confident that with the Governor's assistance, the support of the community college system, that they could hire and train the technical people they will need with skills in robotics and advanced automation. They complimented our area by saying that with production, sales, and recycling under one roof that all would work for profitability as well as the common good.
In regard to branding, we would have had the same issue no matter what regional name was selected. Fact is, we are a region without a predominate city. I believe we now know that and possess the knowledge that the region is the unit of economic competitiveness. We ought to band together and properly fund a branding campaign. We have an incredible story to tell, now let's tell it!
This could have been solved long ago...
As a 22 year resident of the area (by choice, and loving it), I witnessed the rather forced conversion of "Tidewater" to "Hampton Roads" as a description of the region. I still cringe with a bit of self-consciousness when using that phrase to describe where we live, and I don't think I'm alone. If in the mid-80s parochialism could have been put aside for the good of the region, then we would have been marketed to the nation and the world as "Greater Norfolk". I've been a resident of Va. Beach, Hampton and Newport News and so have no local-pride ax to grind, but it's only common sense that Norfolk is the core city of the area. The primary impediment was the city of Virginia Beach, and to a lesser extent Newport News and Hampton. If the weatherman or local advertisers wants to describe our region as Hampton Roads, fine. But believe me, you don't have to go far past the Virginia state line to get blank stares when you say you live in "Hampton Roads". This will ALWAYS hold us back in recruiting new business and industry, let alone major league sports.
Nice!
That's good to hear Canon likes us, I like their company and their products (both laser print engines and photographic equipment). What kind of salaries are they paying? Ford was a big loss for those into robotics / automation.
Actually Ethan, those are
Actually Ethan, those are not issues brought up frequently by prospects. In fact, most find our transportation system to be quite satisfactory. In the recent Northrup Grumman expansion, the general manager cited the availability of competent and available engineering personnel as one of the major reasons for coming here, and the fact that Newport News had timed the traffic signals on Mercury Boulevard was taken as a sign of good government by the prospect. While the cost of living factors have gone up as housing has increased in value, we are still near the middle of the pack and that has not been a major issue either. In the announcement of the Canon expansion in Newport News, the Canon executives from Japan noted that they could have put the new R&D center and the new manufacturing facility anywhere in the world, but they chose Newport News because of excellent relationships with the city, availability of training resources, knowledge of high tech/robotics, and our environmental stewardship. Nice Kudos for the area.
Agreed
Agreed, the name "Hampton Roads" is a bit broken in that it was made up. Generally it's easier to say Virginia Beach or Norfolk to people unfamiliar with the area. When posting on the housing bubble blogs, I always say "Hampton Roads (Norfolk - Virginia Beach & Surrounding Areas)" so people know what I'm talking about. For the others that are calling me a hater, hey, I talk the talk but I've worked to improve things! I'm not going to move at the moment due to my job. Is your thoughts to silence all negativity and ignore any problems?
The negative reasons I think of are distance to major interstates (i95), weak telecommunications infrastructure, brain drain, high cost of housing (not sure what commercial RE is doing these days, but everything's for sale!). Are these not true negatives for business? Don't shoot the messenger.
yup, Ethan needs to move
Ethan, do like I did, and get out of there. You can always come check out SW Virginia, just shoot me an e-mail. Lots of tech jobs in the Roanoke and Blacksburg area, and the real estate market didn't get quite as crazy out here as it did in HR. If you don't want to go smaller, give Bart a call up in NYC, and ask if he's hiring! Or get the hook up from the many other people you know in the NYC, DC, or SanFran areas.
As for the rest of you, just wait. If you're a newcomer to HR, enjoy yourself, but just like a job you've had too long, living there will probably get stale. If you've lived there all your life, and still enjoy it, more power to you, as you've apparently found the place for you. Maybe Ethan and I just haven't lost our youthful wanderlust yet!
Actually, once a company
Actually, once a company comes here for a face to face visit, their reaction is always very positive. The issue Jones Hooks was talking about is the brand identification of our region. That is, Hampton Roads is well known in the maritime industry and internationally, but our brand does not resonate particularly well with the general business population. We have no major league sports teams, our two airports do not identify us regionally, and to date we do not have the political will to mount and pay for an aggressive branding campaign. That said, if we can get the decision maker here, we have as good a chance as anyplace at meeting the needs of a business enterprise and their employees. Fortunately, our international efforts, our web based marketing, trade shows, and international missions continue to bear fruit, and our city/county partners have recently developed new buildings and sites to complement our quality workforce to make us more competitive. Jones, thanks for a job well done.
Move?
If you hate it here so much (as you continue to post negative posts all of the time) then have you thought about relocating? I chose to move to this area 5 years ago, and I am happy here. I was living prior to this in Raleigh, NC, a city that gets a lot of talk about how great it is. I was miserable there. I have been much happier here, and I wonder why people continue to post negative comments instead of just moving on with their life. Good luck, and I hope you can find a place you like better...
Why is it that.......
people are so "negative" about living in Norfolk, VaBeach, Chesapeake, etc....(Hampton Roads area).
If people are so negative about the Hampton Roads area, why are they still living here complaining rather than moving to another city?? Face it, the area is going to keep progressing and attracting new businesses.......If you don't like the area and you prefer the slow, non-progressing, stuff your face and get fat life, then move!
So..
So my Hammy Roads neighbors, give me your reasons why you think a corporation would relocate to Hampton Roads? I can't think of any good reasons, other than the water. I can think of serious negative reasons. I can't find a specific place to lay the blame, I think the region just lacks the magic.