Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 20, 1995 TAG: 9507200041
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The agency, known as the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, will "assume the primary marketing role for economic development" in Virginia, Allen said during a stop in Roanoke.
The partnership will operate as an independent political subdivision of the state, similar to other authorities governing ports and small-business financing.
His 13 appointees to the partnership's 15-member board, including four people with Southwest Virginia ties:
Joseph Vipperman of Roanoke, president of Appalachian Power Co.
David Goode of Norfolk, a Vinton native and chairman, president and chief executive officer of Norfolk Southern Corp.
J. Thomas Fowlkes of Bristol, president and chief operating officer of the United Co.
Mary Rae Cater of Henry County, a former teacher who is active in economic development efforts in the Martinsville and Henry County area.
In addition to the appointees, Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Robert Skunda and Secretary of Finance Paul Timmreck will be the only state officials on the board.
The partnership is "actually going to replace, in effect, the Department of Economic Development in whole or in part," Skunda said Wednesday in a telephone interview. The transfer of operations will occur by next July after the 1996 General Assembly passes enabling legislation, he said.
Skunda likened the "very, very high-powered and respected" business and civic leaders on the board to the outside board of directors of a corporation.
Henry County's Carter said her perception is the partnership will not duplicate the work of other state agencies, but will help market the state to business and set economic development policy.
She will be able to bring the perspective of someone who has been involved in economic development on the local level to the board, Carter said.
The partnership is intended to give some continuity to the state's economic development efforts during periods when the governor's office changes hands, she said.
Allen said Wednesday that it's important to create a permanent role for the private sector in economic development recruiting. "Virginia will be open for business not just when George Allen is governor but will remain open for business in the future," he said.
Creation of the partnership was recommended in Opportunity Virginia, an economic development plan prepared by the Allen administration, which was published last December. A growing number of states are pursuing similar strategies, according to that report.
The 1995 General Assembly passed legislation setting up the partnership as a state authority, making it an independent political subdivision of the state.
In summary, the legislation says the partnership is charged with "encouraging, stimulating and supporting the development and expansion of the Commonwealth's economy by providing economic development services, conducting research, and developing a comprehensive economic development strategy."
The law exempts certain information collected by the partnership from the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and exempts the partnership from property, sales and income taxes. It also requires the partnership's board to identify by Dec. 15 what work it will take over from the state Department of Economic Development.
The Opportunity Virginia report said that one of the first things the partnership board should consider is privatization of the state's economic development marketing efforts. That would allow the partnership to hire, fire and reward marketing professionals based on actual performance, the report said.
"The state has every reason to want the most talented and motivated people representing Virginia as a Fortune 500 company," Skunda said.
Principally, the partnership will take over the sales and marketing functions of the Department of Economic Development, he said. Employees of the authority, unlike those of the department, will not be employees of the state, he said.
Flexibility and continuity, Skunda said, are the biggest advantage of the partnership over the current department structure for economic development.
The partnership could also act as a clearinghouse to help coordinate state, local university and private-sector economic development efforts and take a lead in electronically linking economic developers, Opportunity Virginia said.
The Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce supported the partnership's creation and sees it as a starting point toward accomplishing more private and public cooperation on economic development efforts, said Bud Oakey, a vice president and Richmond lobbyist for the chamber.
by CNB