THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 16, 1994 TAG: 9407160242
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATRICIA HUANG AND JEFF HOOTEN, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
After five years of helping the city grow, the director of economic development, Andrew Burke, resigned Thursday to become senior vice president of the Chamber of Commerce in Oklahoma City.
Burke, a Texas native who worked in the electric utility business in Dallas before coming to Hampton Roads in 1989, called the job ``just a new and exciting opportunity in the 27th-largest city in the country.''
Virginia Beach now must attract a top-flight economic director to an area facing not only an impending water shortage but also the specter of more defense cutbacks. A successor does not appear to be waiting in the wings, and City Manager James K. Spore said officials would spend the next few weeks planning their next move.
``Good economic developers are hard to find,'' he said.
The city's water crisis clearly hinders development, Spore said. Just this year the city failed to attract a 4,000-job manufacturing company that was a heavy water user. He declined to name the company but noted: ``The fact that we can't guarantee an adequate water supply in the future impacts us in a tremendous way in economic development.''
The city has been fighting with North Carolina and federal agencies for approval of a pipeline from Lake Gaston to Virginia Beach. Environmental issues have stalled the project for years.
City Councilman William Sessoms said that the Lake Gaston situation concerns him but that no one is ready to give up. ``Don't forget that Virginia Beach has a lot going for it,'' he said. ``Fortunately we have a tourism industry in place that doesn't need any more water.''
Other council members said that while Burke will be missed, the city won't miss a beat in its development.
Even Burke said as much.
``I'm not a one-person show,'' he said. ``I don't think you'll see a ripple in the water when I leave.''
Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf called Burke's recruitment of business ``lively.''
``Andy has been a faithful servant, not only in Virginia Beach, but in a regional cooperative effort,'' she said.
Burke, 50, who will leave office July 29, said he is confident the city will continue to grow. ``We've come a long way . . . with the creation of jobs,'' he said. ``We've been able to raise the per capita income . . . And I think one of the hardest things we've done is enhance our identity as a corporate environment.''
During Burke's tenure, the Department of Economic Development attracted 85 businesses to Virginia Beach and saw nearly $120 million in new investment. More than 6,000 jobs were created.
On the down side, the department was frustrated by inactivity at the Corporate Landing Industrial Park.
Spore dismissed the notion that the city's recent problems would scare away the best candidates.
``The economic conditions in our region are still good,'' he said. ``There are other areas of the country that would love to be in as good a condition economically as Hampton Roads.''
Burke is the second local economic development guru to jump ship in less than a month. Gregory H. Wingfield, president of Forward Hampton Roads - the economic development arm of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce - announced two weeks ago that he was leaving to become president of a Richmond economic stimulus group.
Forward Hampton Roads was formed in 1984 to market the region nationally and internationally to potential businesses. (Story in Sunday Business)
``It's two quality people leaving the area, which is certainly not good news,'' Spore said. ``They're going to be hard to replace.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Andrew Burke
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA BEACH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT by CNB