Lessons learned in Economic development in South Hampton Roads

Inside Business publishes an interesting manifesto entitled “Commercial Real Estate Quarterly”. Their Mon 28 Jul 08 publication featured Q&A-style interviews about the last fiscal year with the directors of the Departments of Economic Development (DED) for Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake and Portsmouth.

My recap:

Warren Harris, Virginia Beach’s director, cites the beach’s focused work on targeted industries and diversifying the economy as major accomplishments. VB has targeted their marketing efforts by creating new marketing materials as well as continuing to address workforce development needs.

During FY 07/08, VB created 1,513 new jobs and $240.5M in new capital investment. VB’s DED has been re-accredited through the International Economic Development Council, distinguished as only one of 23 DEDs in North America with this designation: Accredited Economic Development Organization (AEDO). Additionally, Site Selection magazine named VB one of the 10 best ED groups in the U.S.


Rod Woolard, Norfolk’s director, focused on transit-oriented development as that office’s major accomplishment. However, the disappointing lack of long-term state transportation funding was cited as a negative. The hotel and conference center construction delay in Norfolk’s downtown has been a disappointment as well. On a positive note, Norfolk touts many of the same draws as the rest of the region: a large defense-related presence, the booming port, and outstanding quality of life with rich arts and culture offerings, and medical and educational resources.

Norfolk’s biggest challenge lies in the lack of land for new development with 98% already developed. The Norfolk DED’s efforts focus on redevelopment, reuse and pursuing public/private partnerships for funding sources. The availability of new space for offices, modern warehousing, etc. has been limiting, requiring more creative uses of resources. Project financing is a challenge now and in the near future.

Steven Lynch, ED director of Portsmouth, has the APM Terminal’s opening on my birthday (07 Sept) in 2007 as the most significant accomplishment, creating a world-class maritime center. Portsmouth also suffers from lack of land with 90+% already developed. Their work focuses on re-establishing existing properties into stronger revenue generators.

The availability of credit was cited as the most significant challenge going forward.

Chesapeake’s director, Steven Wright, cites the city’s redevelopment strategy in SoNo (South Norfolk, located in Chesapeake, not Norfolk) as that office’s significant accomplishment. Chesapeake gives glowing reviews to Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance (HREDA), as nearly 50% of international firms in Hampton Roads are located there. The uncertain state of the nation’s economy is acknowledged as now making it difficult to identify high-impact, growth-mode firms to target.

Each director positively identified HREDA as the regional organization helping to make each city more competitive than working as individual entities, leveraging the region’s assets and sharing marketing expenses. HREDA is also distinguished as an AEDO.

Relocation of company headquarters to Hampton Roads, such as Zim Integrated Shipping Services, North American, emphasizes our region as a major gateway today and in the future for U.S. and world markets. The existence of substantial assets in Hampton Roads, such as the high-profile DoD presence, globally-recognized port, and significant higher learning institutions, serves as a strategic leverage against competition from other regions.

Of note are newer, emerging markets competing for new business locations in the southeast in addition to established markets such as Richmond, Charlotte and Atlanta.

Workforce development is of great significance due to Hampton Roads’ large “renewable employment base”, i.e. students graduating from higher learning and exiting military. The biggest challenges? Retaining, recruiting and training.

The biggest lesson learned from these interviews with the area’s DEDs? In order to compete globally, Hampton Roads must cooperate regionally. Look out world, here we come!

SBA Study Identifies Hampton Roads as #1 in U.S. for High-Impact Firms

“High-Impact” Firms Create Most Jobs and Growth

Hampton Roads, Virginia-

A study just released by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy (SBA) ranks Hampton Roads #1 in the country with the highest percentage of “high-impact” firms when compared to other large metropolitan regions. High-impact firms are defined in the report as rapidly growing firms, accounting for almost all employment and revenue growth in the economy although they represent only between 2% and 3% of all business firms.

“Having a higher percentage of rapidly growing companies than North Carolina’s Research Triangle, Washington DC or Silicon Valley in California is a strong indication of the vibrant technology-based industries growing here” says Rick Lally, CEO of Oceana Sensor and Chairman of the Hampton Roads Technology Council (HRTC).

Released at the International Council for Small Business 2008 World Conference held in late June in Canada, the SBA study High-Impact Firms: Gazelles Revisited defines high-impact firms as those whose sales have at least doubled over a four-year period, analyzing the 1994 to 2006 period. To illustrate: over the 1998-2002 time period, the average size of high-impact firms in the 1-19 employee firm-size class increased by 534%, the 20-499 firm-size class increased by 322% and the 500-or-more class increased by 221%.

The study ranks regions, states, Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and counties by their percentage of high-impact firms, also known as “gazelles”. The study finds that high-impact firms contribute to the majority of overall economic growth and documents also, over the periods studied, that nearly all job losses came from low-impact firms that are also large in size.

“The Hampton Roads economic development organizations have proactively partnered with the private sector to enhance the defense and homeland security industry which resulted in the creation of the Defense and Homeland Security Consortium (DHSC) in 2005”, according to Warren D. Harris, Director of Virginia Beach Economic Development. “The Hampton Roads area has a robust defense and security sector, and it is imperative the private and public sector work in a concerted effort to address the issues that affect these firms and undertake initiatives to expand this sector.”

DHSC volunteers are comprised of officials from the sponsoring city’s economic development departments, educational institutions, workforce development organizations, federal contracting industry professionals and organizations. DHSC has aggressive goals adopted to improve the industry to benefit the entire community and support increased growth of local companies.

For example, each spring since 2005, DHSC has collaborated with Tidewater Community College (TCC) to bring the "Navigating Business with the Federal Government" Seminar Series to South Hampton Roads. The Peninsula Council For Workforce Development (PCFWD) has joined with DHSC to bring the same 9-week series to the Peninsula starting this fall, offering sessions by senior executives from successful local companies to share their experience on what made them, and their companies, achieve their success.

One of the newest initiatives of the consortium, led by Catherine Giordano, CEO of Knowledge Information Solutions and Co-chair of the DHSC, is collaborating to improve education and training opportunities available in Hampton Roads for current and potential employees of the federal contracting industry.

A complete copy of the High-Impact Firms: Gazelles Revisited report and rankings of high-impact firms by region, state, MSA, and county may be found by visiting the Defense and Homeland Security consortium website at http://www.pentagonsouth.org/. For more details, contact DHSC Co-Chair Jack Greenhalgh at 757-345-5508 or Jack@NewEraEnergy.com.

For more information on the report, contact the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, www.sba.gov/advo. The SBA’s Office of Advocacy, the “small business watchdog” of the federal government, examines the role and status of small business in the economy and independently represents the views of small business to federal agencies, Congress, and the President. It is the source for small business statistics presented in user-friendly formats, and it funds research into small business issues.

# # #

The Defense and Homeland Security Consortium (DHSC) is a special interest community within the Hampton Roads Technology Council (HRTC) engaged in collaborative discussion and planning to increase revenue and profitability as well as heighten local, national and international awareness for all defense- and security-related businesses in the Hampton Roads region.

Cities, businesses team up to boost defense industry

Local military and homeland security contractors plan to join with city economic development officials regionwide in an effort to nurture the area's defense industry.

The aim is to position Hampton Roads as "Pentagon South".

Officials said the new group is an outgrowth of a defense industry consortium formed by Virginia Beach three years ago as part of an economic development initiative.

The Beach recruited Chesapeake last year, and industry and government officials in those two cities have now concluded that it makes sense to broaden the effort. Some of the defense companies, for instance, have offices in multiple cities.

With defense spending accounting for roughly one-third of the economy in Hampton Roads, several cities consider such businesses a target market for job creation.

"We always talk about coming together as a region, so this is something else we're trying to do," said Scott Howell, senior business development manager for Chesapeake's Department of Economic Development. "It only makes sense given how much our local economy relies on the defense industry."

One city can't promote itself as "Pentagon South," said Cynthia Spanoulis, strategy and performance coordinator for the Beach's Department of Economic Development.

"We've got to be bigger to call ourselves that," she said. "Everything's regional."

The new group will be known as the Hampton Roads Defense and Homeland Security Consortium. It will operate under the umbrella of the Hampton Roads Technology Council, which counts a variety of defense contractors as members and now works with local economic development agencies.

Rick Lally, chairman of the technology council, said he hopes the regional group will explore such things as mentorship programs, a defense business incubator, and other ways to strengthen the presence of small, innovative companies.

Lally's Oceana Sensor Technologies Inc., which works with the Navy, was among around two dozen companies in the Virginia Beach consortium.

"The benefits of having these businesses here and their impact on the community is a regional thing - that's what it boils down to," Lally said.

The group's first meeting - representatives from any local defense or homeland security business can attend - is a Monday (October 15, 2007) lunch at the Residence Inn at Greenbrier in Chesapeake, starting at 11:30 a.m. Chesapeake's Department of Economic Development is covering the meals and the $150 room-rental fee, Howell said.

So far, economic development officials in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton and Newport News have expressed interest in joining the Beach and Chesapeake in the effort.

By JON W. GLASS, The Virginian-Pilot © October 13, 2007
(757) 446-2318, jon.glass@pilotonline.com

International Bird Flu Summit in Washington DC, February 2006

Companies offer wares to guard against spread of bird flu

Friendship Industries has launched into PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) Kitting and is part of the global emergency prep for the Avian Influenza (aka Bird Flu or AI) Pandemic. Luckily, one of our small business partners and emergency equipment distributor, Safeware Inc., invited me to join them in exhibiting at the Bird Flu Summit. Click on the link above for an article published by Reuters based on an interview I did at the Summit, or read on for an excerpt:

L to R: Me (in my "Intelligent + Medical" look), Safeware's Safety Expert-Chandler Martin, Safeware's President-Ed Simons, and DuPont's Global Industrial Segment Mgr-Andy Peralla

27 Feb 2006 22:36:28 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Worried that a courier might deliver avian flu along with that book you ordered to pass the time while you wait out the pandemic? Melissa Blankenship, director of sales and marketing for Friendship Industries Inc., has just the product for you. "You could easily wear these while using a keyboard," she said, demonstrating a thin, blue flexible glove. "And if the UPS (United Parcel Service) man comes, for instance, you can put this on for outside protection," she says, holding out a slightly thicker glove.

Companies are gearing up to help protect health care workers and the public in case of a bird flu pandemic, offering portable isolation units, packs with gloves, masks and suits and sanitizing systems. They demonstrated their wares on Monday at the Bird Flu Summit organized by meeting specialist New-Fields.

H5N1 avian influenza has moved steadily across Europe in recent weeks and into parts of Africa, after moving out of southeast Asia for the first time last year. It has killed or forced the slaughter of more than 200 million birds and is beginning to damage the poultry industry in some countries.

It does not yet easily infect people but it has sickened 173, by official World Health Organization count, and killed 93 of them. Experts fear it could change into a strain that easily passes from person to person, causing a pandemic. Public health specialists predict that, if it did, it could infect up to a third of the population in the space of a few weeks, wreck economies, force schools and businesses to close and overwhelm hospitals.

But simple hygiene measures and a little protective equipment could go a long way to guarding against infection, and distributors of these products report a steep rise in interest in recent weeks.

Blankenship said factories in southeast Asia are being re-fitted. "The companies that are making shirts for Wal-Mart, we need them to convert to making personal protective gear," Blankenship said. Her company is checking out potential factories in China, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Business Development Certification with Peter Brinckerhoff

November 17-18, 2005

I will be at NISH National Headquarters in Vienna VA for a very important class en route to my certification.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT 1: THE PLANNING PROCESS

Purpose:
In today’s changing business environment, sound business planning is essential as CRPs seek ways to expand their current business activities and diversify into new areas and markets. CRPs list business development and developing additional contract opportunities as their greatest need. In this course, we will learn to successfully develop business strategies and conduct business planning from a nationally known trainer who has helped hundreds of notfor-
profits with business development initiatives.

Audience:
This course is designed for executives and senior and middle management staff responsible for planning, program development and decision making as they relate to business development in the CRP.

Take Away Value:
1) Learn how to make decisions about new business ventures.
2) Learn how to develop a feasibility study.
3) Learn how to write a business plan.
4) Learn how to finance a new business endeavor.
5) Develop an understanding of the rules surrounding Unrelated Business Income.
6) Gain an understanding of the corporate structuring options available to CRPs.

Instructor:
Peter Brinckerhoff is an experienced instructor who has provided training for NISH for over ten years. He is a highly sought after consultant in the not-for-profit arena and has helped hundreds of nonprofits develop business plans and revamp their marketing efforts. Peter is an award-winning author of ten books for not-for-profit managers including Mission-Based Marketing and Social Entrepreneurship. You can learn more about Peter at his Web site www.missionbased.com .

National Council of Work Centers

November 13-16, 2005

I am attending the NISH East Region National Council of Work Centers (NCWC) Training Conference. This year’s conference will cover four tracks:
(1) NISH Policies & Procedures,
(2) Quality
(3) Workplace Development, and
(4) Products with a focus on opportunities for the NPA (Non Profit Agency).

The East Region consists of the following 13 states: VA, WV, MD, DE, PA, NJ, NY, MA, RI, CT, VT, NH, ME. The conference will be at the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott located at 333 Adams Street, Brooklyn NY.

Sales Professional-to-Business Partner Opportunity

Sales Professional-to-Business Partner Opportunity
Gallant Communications
Harrisonburg, VA

Yearning for the opportunity to break out of the “same old same old” sales rut and use your Talents for the greater good, namely YOURS? To build a base of customers that could bring you the business partnership you’ve always dreamed of?

Full service advertising agency seeks an aggressive Sales Professional to acquire new business for explosive company growth. No need to have knowledge of advertising; we want sales experience and skills.

Successful candidate will become an equal partner in the firm in approximately 1 year AND majority owner of the firm in 8-10 years. To start, position is a generous commissions-only structure. First year income projected at not less than $40,000.

Only serious Sales Professionals need apply. Contact Jim Gallant at 540.289.6882 or info@gallantcommunications.com .

Missy Joined Friendship Industries in 2001

It is with great regret that I left Friendship in June 2007 due to my family leaving the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia area for greater opportunities . I hope to continue my career with an equally rewarding organization in the Hampton Roads area.

I joined Friendship Industries, Inc. in 2001 in the newly-created position of Sales and Marketing Director, ironically enough the week after 9/11 and a major US economic down-turn. As Friendship kicked off its next phase of growth and despite recent events, management decided that I filled the requirements: an energetic, extremely focused individual with attention to customer relationships, a strategic thinker, an effective leader and skilled communicator.

The time had come in Friendship's history to develop, implement and oversee a Comprehensive Sales and Marketing Plan to assure continued growth. I acted as customer liaison and managed the internal Customer Service personnel and was responsible for seeking out New Business Opportunities for the next generation of Friendship employees.

In business development mode, I launched Friendship's quest for Federal Government Contracts by working with NISH, attending conferences, making contacts and working through NISH's Business Development Training Program.

Read more about Government Contracting at www.jwod.gov (now www.AbilityOne.gov). Friendship achieved their first government contract ever under my direction, an Escape and Evasion (E&E) Kit for the US Air Force. I worked through existing partnerships and developed new commercial partnerships while in research and development with the USAF First Aid Kit Program Manager. Appropriations for this contract through FY07 will be approximately $3.6 million (for a total of $9 million for the initial supply to all airborne men and women) . Furthermore, the contract is a set-aside, added to the JWOD Procurement List (PL) , making Friendship Industries the sole source for the E&E Kit for the life of the USAF need. This product will never be put out for competitive bid.

NOTE: the JWOD Program launched a re-branding initiative in 2007, now referred to as AbilityOne.

Objectives

Business Development / Marketing Communications
25+ years of business development experience managing relationships in sales, marketing, communications. Expertise and talents best accommodate long-term needs, promoting and building open-ended, business-to-business and business-to-consumer, win-win relationships.

• Seeks permanent business development management position to put your organization in the right markets at the right time to build your bottom line.

• Seeks opportunities to drive your mission, focusing on strategies to fulfill your corporate goals, with special attention in federal, state and local government.

• Seeks position to utilize my strong initiative and commitment to world-class excellence, coupled with demonstrated experience in sales and marketing leadership, to develop mutually beneficial loyalty-driven business relationships.
  

Highlights of my qualifications include:

1. Editor and public communication including public comment for first region-wide Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) for Hampton Roads, Virginia; year-long process used as example by U.S. Dept. of Commerce's Economic Development Administration
   
2. $9 Million sole mandatory source USAF Contract, including product development, for the USAF’s Escape & Evasion Kit (E&E), a vital personal survival and medical kit not updated since the Vietnam War
3. Small Business Status for a non-profit with the State of Virginia, including a catalog presence on eVA, Virginia’s e-Procurement Portal
   
4. GSA MAS Award for SIN 426-4F for several Pandemic, Survival, Medical, Evacuation and Disaster Response Kits

Qualifications:

• > Public Participation
  
• > Government Contracting
• > Strategic and Market Planning
• > Advertising/Events/Public Relations
• > Budgeting and Expense Control
• > Website and Print Collateral Design
• > Product Development
• > Brand Development/Brand Building
• > Contract/Price Negotiation
• > P&L Management/Purchasing
• > Staff Development and Motivation
• > Loss Prevention/Shrinkage Control
• > Merchandising and Inventory Control
• > Sales and Business Development
• > Key Customer Management/Retention
  
  
  Melissa G. “Missy” Schmidt

Price is what you pay. Value is what you get. – Warren Buffett