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.

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.

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.

Thomas Chisman, former president of Hampton television station WVEC, instigated the push for one MSA, according to Jim Babcock, retired chair and CEO of First Virginia Bank.

“The idea was his,” Babcock said.

Dale Bowen, owner of The Bowen Group, said Carl Mangum, then an executive with Landmark Communications Inc., also pushed for one MSA.

Whoever instigated the plan, it was meant to lift the region into the top 50 metropolitan regions in the country.

Before that, the Peninsula was ranked above 100 and Southside, above 50.

Needless to say, the region’s schizophrenic economy and demographics never registered with corporations, which considered the top 50 MSAs for advertising dollars.

So many local leaders, especially in the business community, pushed to merge the two areas.

“That was the idea,” Babcock. “That was the kernel.”

Many business leaders backed the plan. When the two areas merged, the MSA ranked 27th.

It was known then as the Norfolk-Newport News-Virginia Beach MSA and was based on population. Later, the MSA was changed to the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News MSA, which also included portions of eastern North Caroina.

“What were the results?” Babcock said. “Strength in numbers. By having a larger population, we combined organizations. We put the two planning district commissions together and made them stronger. We had a stronger staff. We had a larger legislative caucus. That began to foster an attitude among so many people to cooperate regionally.”

“In a nutshell what I remember about it was that it was intended to move us up,” said Jack Hornbeck, president and CEO of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce. “By combining MSAs, based on history and geography, we moved up on the list.”

Hornbeck said the merger of the MSAs was all about the attention larger MSAs got when companies were wanting to relocate or looking to spend money on advertising.

It boiled down to attracting more advertising dollars because the region was a larger market, Hornbeck said.

“That was it: to put Hampton Roads on the map,” Hornbeck said.

“Prior to the merger, it was a statistical concept,” Bowen said. “Prior to the merger, people didn’t understand the size and scope of the area.

“We weren’t in the top 50 markets,” Bowen said. “Everyone knows that if you are not in the top 50 markets, you’re not anything. We slept and breathed it for six years.

“We made speeches, we wrote books,” Bowen said. “We did so many things.”

Bowen said the merger of the two areas was the only merger among diverse geographic regions in 1984 in the nation and the only one since.

But not everyone was convinced.

“The Peninsula fought us tooth and nail,” Bowen said. “They had this fear they would be gobbled up by Norfolk. We assured them, you will benefit.”

That was despite Chisman’s efforts to merge the two areas.

“We had a time with the politicians,” Bowen said. “We made speeches over there. It still took years to convince them. A lot of political groups didn’t want to give up power.”

“It’s hard to believe its been 25 years ago since we dealt with the MSA,” said Gordon Gentry, who was chair of the Peninsula Chamber of Commerce in 1983. “I think it’s made a difference. It’s a way of projecting the economic power of our region to the rest of the country.

“By itself it doesn’t do an awful lot,” said Gentry, who is now chair of TowneBank on the Peninsula. “But you still have to carry the attributes of the region through your messages and through your activities conducted by such organizations as the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance.”

In addition to the higher profile among corporations, Bowen said the area could compete for federal dollars as one group instead of two.

“I really thought if we got the area merged, everything else would follow,” Bowen said. “That didn’t happen.

“When we applied for the name, we applied for it in the name of Hampton Roads,” he said, adding that the federal government assigned the names of cities to the MSA instead of one geographic name. The change to one MSA “brought the communities together and made them look more at working together,” Bowen said. “I think it created regionalism.”

“The greatest achievement that came out of that was the Virginia Port Authority,” Babcock said.

The Virginia Port Authority unified the three facilities in Portsmouth, Norfolk and Newport News under one banner in 1983 and 1984. But Babcock, referring to other issues, said the region hasn’t taken advantage of the strength of one MSA “as much as it could have.”

Babcock said that the region still doesn’t get a fair share of dollars for highway construction and maintenance.

“The latest example of how we haven’t used our latent strength is high-speed rail,” Babcock said. “We are the largest MSA between New York and Miami. We are the only MSA left out of the high speed rail.”

Babcock said that the state should go for federal dollars for high-speed rail for Richmond and Hampton Roads rather than the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor, which would leave out Hampton Roads.

by Philip Newswanger, originally published on January 29, 2010 in the Hampton Roads Business Weekly, Inside Business

More stories about the Hampton Roads MSA

The National Institutes of Health has awarded Hampton University an $8 million stimulus grant to construct a Biomedical Research Center (BRC).

The interdisciplinary biomedical research facility will be home to research activities such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, adolescent health, HIV/AIDS, biomolecular cancer imagining, medicinal chemistry, Alzheimer’s and other projects from the Hampton University Schools of Nursing, Pharmacy, and Science. Compelling scientific questions will be assailed from multiple fronts in the BRC. This will create a dynamic environment where researchers will look beyond their focused areas to incorporate strategic information from other disciplines as well.

“The Hampton University Biomedical Center illustrates the extraordinary progress Hampton has made in expanding our research agenda,” said HU President Dr. William R. Harvey. “We have made great strides in conducting scientific research and developing technologies that address major health issues which affect our society today.”

The BRC will be an economic resource for the community as well. Professional and technical jobs will be created. The BRC will develop minority scientists and create skilled professionals and a diverse workforce. Also about 400 construction jobs will be created to build this world-class research facility.

One of the projects housed in the BRC will be the existing HU Center for Advanced Medical Instrumentation. Devices developed by this center have been successfully used for breast cancer localization and treatment in clinical trials. Additionally, the cancer imaging technology clustered within the proposed center will be established to utilize this unique research environment. This will serve as a magnet to attract talented researchers, particularly minority researchers, to Hampton University.

from Hampton University Department of University Relations

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.

“I shall miss him … He was my colleague and friend. Edward L. Brown Sr. was one of a kind.”

Brown served his country during World War II in the U.S. Army and the United States Merchant Marines, which he said led him to his career on the Hampton Roads’ waterfront. Following his military career Brown joined the ILA Local 1248 in September 1956 and progressed through its leadership ranks. In 1968 he became the ILA president and served in that capacity until 1985. At the time of his death Brown was international vice president, as well as the general vice president of the Atlantic Coast District.

Brown was a native of Norfolk and was a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School. He was one of the first students to attend Norfolk State University when it became part of Virginia State College in 1944. Brown received an honorary degree from NSU for his dedication to the well-being and expansion of the university. In 2002 the ILA-Hampton Roads District Council established the Edward L. Brown, Sr., Endowed Professorship in Management at Norfolk State University in his honor.

Over the years, Brown has received numerous honors, including Man of the Year by the Hunton YMCA in 1984; the Martin Luther King Jr., Appreciation Award for labor activities in 1995; and the Distinguished Service Award by the Hampton Roads Maritime Association in 2005.

In 2006, his 50 years of service on the Virginia waterfront was recognized in Virginia House of Delegates Joint Resolution No. 5176.

“He was tireless in his effort to build this port into something great,” said Jerry A. Bridges, executive director of the Virginia Port Authority. “He clearly understood the relationship that must exist among labor, the shipping companies and the terminal operator to have a successful business. Because of the time he had on the job Ed had the ability to see an issue from multiple points of view and that is what made him an experienced, tough and practical negotiator.”

From The Virginian-Pilot:

“He was a great leader for the ILA and for the entire maritime industry in Hampton Roads,”  said Thomas Little, president of the Hampton Roads District Council of the ILA and president of Local 1248 in Norfolk. “Our prayers go out to his family.”

“Ed has been an inspiration to all of us in the industry,” said Jerry A. Bridges, executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, who said he has been a friend of Brown’s for roughly 20 years. “He was almost like a father figure, in his leadership, his guidance and patience. We’re going to miss Ed – not only as an industry, but as a community. We’ve lost a very good man and leader.”

In his role as head of the ILA in Hampton Roads, Brown “was a true leader that helped this port achieve the success that it has today,” said Jeff Keever, senior deputy executive director, external affairs, for the Virginia Port Authority.

Brown, 83, died of complications from cancer at home in Virginia Beach at 5:17 this morning.

Brown, also a charter member of the Board of Directors of the Hampton Roads Partnership serving on the Executive Committee from 1996 to 2003, represented about 2,000 working longshoremen who load and unload the ships that come through the port, as well as about 1,800 retirees. At the Partnership’s formation in 1996, Brown co-chaired the Standing Committee on Privatization.

“Few people have touched the lives of so many and had the global impact as did Ed Brown,” said Dana Dickens, President and CEO of the Partnership.

Photo credit: Inside Business and The Virginian-Pilot

From Harry T. Lester, President of Eastern Virginia Medical School, in the Winter 2010 EVMS Magazine:

EVMS is proud to be located in a military town. Home to the world’s largest Navy base, our city and our region have benefited from the military’s strong local presence. According to economists, direct and indirect defense spending accounts for nearly half of the local economic activity.

While that investment does immeasurable good for this area, economists say being so reliant on one sector leaves Hampton Roads vulnerable should defense priorities shift. The relocation of just one aircraft carrier — as has been proposed — could take with it thousands of jobs and leave a nearly $1 billion hole in this region’s economy.

Building a more diverse business infrastructure is the key to plugging the hole, and EVMS is primed to be a part of that effort (see excerpts below). Just look at our involvement in the burgeoning field of modeling and simulation (see page 18 of EVMS Magazine Winter10), one of the other business sectors identified as a regional strength. EVMS is developing new tools that help up-and-coming health care providers learn their craft and keep current practitioners sharp.

Our founders understood 36 years ago that a thriving academic medical center is a crucial element of a strong economy, and the same holds true today. The school employs more than 1,100 people, attracts millions in grant funding and cares for tens of thousands of patients each year.

It gives me great pride to know that Eastern Virginia Medical School contributes to the region’s health in ways that extend far beyond the doctor’s office and to know that we are working to make an even greater impact on the regional economy.

Excerpts from the EVMS article,
Filling the Gap:  Could EVMS keep Hampton Roads economy afloat?

Defense spending reigns as the economic super power in Hampton Roads. The sector accounts for a wide swath of the region’s economic activity, fueling tens of thousands of local jobs. But that spending leaves it vulnerable.

The percentage of Hampton Roads’ economy related to the military stood at about 20% in the 1980s. That figure bloomed over the intervening quarter century, tallying roughly 50% of the region’s business today. The relationship served as a buffer when the economy crashed in late 2007 and sent the private sector reeling, but that reliance could quickly become a liability.

“That puts us, regionally, in a thoroughly exposed position because either defense spending could decline, or maybe taper off a bit, or there could be a change in the mix of defense spending so that the Department of Defense would spend more money on things that don’t involve Hampton Roads,“ says James V. Koch, PhD, economics professor and president emeritus at Old Dominion University.

The region got a taste of that possibility recently when the Navy opened discussions about relocating to Florida one of the aircraft carriers based in Norfolk. Community, business and political leaders from throughout the region decried the idea. Such a move would also send away thousands of jobs and up to $1 billion in economic activity, according to published estimates.

“The question arises,” Dr. Koch says, “‘What can we do about that?’” EVMS is a natural answer, he says.

“It would be nice to think that we’re going to attract the next Microsoft to Hampton Roads, but it’s not very likely,” he says. “The wisest thing for us to do is attempt to capitalize on distinctive assets that we already have,” he says. “We’re not starting from ground zero.”

According to Dana Dickens of the Hampton Roads Partnership, modeling and simulation has already been a big boost to EVMS and the community.

“That has been a huge economic boon to Hampton Roads, and EVMS has really embraced that industry,” he says. “They have taken that technology from the defense sector and merged it into the private medical sector. That’s one of our goals — to take Department of Defense technology and move it to other areas.”

Shared by Smart Beginnings South Hampton Roads

Cutting effective early childhood programs hurts states now. When public resources are stretched thin, essential programs for young children often lose out in the budget process. Budget cuts that deprive children of a strong developmental start mean society and taxpayers lose, too.

Investments in early child development benefit states now. This year, policy makers in every state are forced to make hard choices. Priority must go to programs whose demonstrated economic and societal benefits, based on solid research, save money now and generate future revenue.

Programs that start children on the path to successful adulthood
—such as early education and parent support/home visiting—
spur workforce development in multiple ways.

Applying five principles can help secure states’ economic future. Enacting smart policies requires decision-making that prioritizes proven programs for all state spending:

• Human Capital: Expand programs that improve your state’s workforce and community well-being. These investments will help attract and grow new businesses;
• Early Childhood: Invest in the first five years of life. These represent the most powerful time to spur development of creative and productive members of society;
• Evaluation: Prioritize programs that have been proven effective; early childhood programs are backed by extensive research demonstrating their economic and societal value;
• Transparency: Ensure that budget decisions and priorities are clear and understandable; and
• Sustainability: Budget with an eye toward the future. Rebuilding the economy could take many years, but there are policies that can save money now and position your state well for long-term growth.

Download the complete brief from The Pew Center on the States’ Partnership for America’s Economic Success.

The Partnership for America’s Economic Success is a national coalition of business executives, economists, funders and civic leaders mobilizing business to improve tomorrow’s economy through smart policy investments in young children today. It is managed by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

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.

The eCare system not only makes patient care more efficient, but also decreases the amount of paperwork and the chance of mistakes across the system, Bernd said.

In addition, the MyChart program allows patients at Sentara practices to keep track of their own medical record from home using their Internet connection. The program also allows patients to communicate with their doctors and ask questions through the Internet, making both doctors and patients more engaged in the health care process.

“It makes health care more efficient,” Bernd said. “This transformation in the way we deliver care is helping Sentara ensure the highest quality and safest patient environment.”

In spite of the economy, Sentara continued to grow in 2009, adding Potomac Hospital in Northern Virginia to its list of affiliates. Optima grew its health plan coverage statewide, and Sentara Home Health acquired offices in Charlottesville and Bath County.

Other Virginia health care systems ranked in the top 100 nationally include Bon Secours Richmond Health System (8th), Riverside Health System (23rd), Carilion Clinic (37th), and Inova Health System (43rd).

Photo credit: Sentara BelleHarbour is one of dozens of Sentara facilities throughout Hampton Roads. Sentara recently was ranked at the top of integrated health care systems in the nation.

“… 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.

Coworking spaces also typically serve as a venue for related lunch-time and evening events of interest such as “Lunch and learn” sessions sponsored by local law firms, CPAs, and the like, and related evening events offer a chance for networking among the new generation of creative types who make little distinction between business and social relationships.

Most-importantly, 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.

It’s time for our region to start down this path, and explore how one, two, or even a dozen such spaces can help define and expand the “sense of place” that is so lacking in Hampton Roads.  A new, well-promoted coworking space will serve as the rallying point for solo entrepreneurs and creative professionals to congregate, collaborate, and generate the energy that is essential in a robust and creative entrepreneurial environment.

In the last few months, a few people in Norfolk have taken on the task of “socializing” this idea to see who’s interested, willing to help and to work out some of the strategies and tactics that, hopefully, will result in a functioning coworking space sometime in Spring 2010.

This blog post was written in the Starbucks on 21st Street in Ghent, in my library at home, and some of it came together in my car on the way home from Washington, DC.  Just think how much better it could have been if I’d had a place to go that was full of smart, creative people to bounce these ideas off!   If you’re interested in being part of the conversation…

Marty Kaszubowski is President of General Ideas, a Norfolk-based technology venture consultancy, helping early stage companies and solo entrepreneurs figure out what they want to be when they grow up.  He is a former Director of the Hampton Roads Technology Incubator and former President of the Hampton Roads Technology Council. Marty is a long-time participant in the on-going, regional efforts to promote a more robust entrepreneurial culture here in Hampton Roads.  Marty can be reached at Marty@General-Ideas.com.

Photo credit: BrianR on Flickr

Hoping to unify and bolster Hampton Roads’ political clout on military issues, including the fight to keep one of the region’s aircraft carriers, U.S. Rep. Glenn Nye has formed a panel of local, state and federal elected leaders and retired military officers.

The Hampton Roads Military Affairs Commission will “serve as a watchdog and an advocate for the military community,” Nye said Thursday as he stood with several panel members outside Nauticus in Norfolk.

“Clearly one of the top issues on the agenda is the question of the East Coast home porting of our nuclear carriers,” said Nye, a Democrat whose 2nd District encompasses Virginia Beach and part of Norfolk. “As you know, the Navy has not demonstrated a clear strategic rationale for spending up to $1 billion or more to create a redundant nuclear carrier home port on the East Coast at a time when we are facing serious budget shortfalls in other areas.”

Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim said the panel’s creation is long overdue given that some other communities, including supporters of the effort to move a Norfolk-based carrier to Mayport, Fla., already have well-organized groups that include local and federal leaders.

“A coordinated effort where we have direct access to our congressional delegation is so important,” Fraim said. “There’s strength in numbers.”

Joining Fraim on the panel will be at least three other mayors, including Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms; the state’s two U.S. senators and all local congressmen, outgoing Gov. Timothy M. Kaine; and several retired senior naval officers. Nye said he is also asking the region’s state legislators and Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell to participate.

The region’s communities already created the Hampton Roads Military and Federal Facilities Alliance (HRMFFA), a quasi-public agency funded by cities and counties to protect and expand federal government activities in the region.

The new commission, which includes Alliance director Frank Roberts as a member, would expand that effort to include federal and state officials and those with military expertise, Nye said.

“I felt like we needed to take it up a notch,” Nye said. “I think there was a lack of feeling in the military community that we really were unified.”

excerpts from by Bill Bartel, The Virginian-Pilot; Photo credit, Fox 43 TV