THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 1, 1994 TAG: 9410010269
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB AND DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Regional economic development will be on the table when leaders from 15 cities and counties in Hampton Roads meet to discuss common issues.
The all-day meeting set for Oct. 14 appears to be another sign that regionalism is no longer a dirty word in Hampton Roads.
One topic, according to some of those planning to attend the session, will be greater cooperation in economic development.
Some business leaders in Hampton Roads have strongly advocated the creation of a regional development authority that would help local cities and counties attract business.
A regionwide entity is ``going to happen someday, I'm convinced of that,'' said Michael J. Barrett, chairman of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.
Earlier this year, the chamber and the other eight sponsors of Plan 2007, a blueprint for regional cooperation in Hampton Roads, recommended the creation of an economic-development agency covering both sides of the water.
Hampton Mayor Jimmy Eason said he thinks the idea of such an authority is ``certainly worth discussing.'' He said he hadn't heard any specific proposals.
Hampton Roads has had some trouble attracting development, Virginia Beach City Manager James K. Spore said, because the region lacks ``a clear image and identity around the country.''
Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf said she's not sure a regional approach is in the interest of Virginia Beach.
``It's hard to tell taxpayers that what's good for the region is good for us,'' said Oberndorf, adding that she has not heard enough about the joint economic-development idea to decide whether to support it.
``My reservation is, I don't want to do anything that would jeopardize my taxpayers or my city,'' she said.
Regionalism is not a foreign concept to Hampton Roads, Oberndorf said, citing regional solid waste treatment and the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission.
Other recent examples of regional cooperation include: Tidewater Regional Transit and Pentran's cooperation on bus routes connecting the two sides of Hampton Roads, the city of Norfolk's tourism ads promoting the region as the Virginia Waterfront, and the removal of toll charges today on phone calls between the Peninsula and South Hampton Roads.
Bud Denton, president of the Virginia Peninsula Economic Development Council, which represents seven cities and counties on the north side of Hampton Roads, said he hasn't had specific talks about forming a regional authority for several years.
``In concept it would take a whole lot of input and a whole lot of good leadership, but it's not something that's not attainable,'' he said.
Much of the recent talk about a regional agency was spurred by the departure of Forward Hampton Roads' President Gregory Wingfield.
Wingfield, partly because of frustration with the lack of local cities' and counties' financial support for regional economic development, became president of a Richmond-area development group. Chamber and Forward Hampton Roads officials are looking for a replacement.
``We are recruiting a person who would be of the stature to run a merged organization,'' Barrett said, referring to a a South Hampton Roads-Peninsula economic development agency.
The Peninsula Economic Development Council, Forward Hampton Roads and the individual cities and counties between Williamsburg and Virginia Beach spend about $8 million a year on economic development, Barrett said.
The problem is that all the agencies and governing bodies have their own staffs and their own agendas, he said.
``So much of that goes for staffing that there's not enough left for out-of-area marketing,'' Barrett said. ``We ought to be in The Wall Street Journal every day. We ought to be in Forbes every week.
``It's not that we're not spending enough money. It's just that we're not spending it appropriately.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Michael J. Barrett, chairman of the Hampton Roads Chamber of
Commerce
by CNB