THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 3, 1994 TAG: 9410010183
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 2 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
Roger A. Leonard of Chesapeake dashed off a letter to us not long after the Sept. 5 Hampton Roads Business Weekly outlined the expensive expansions carried out at municipal airports. He thought we'd missed the point.
We reported: ``The Chesapeake and Suffolk municipal airports have launched an aggressive effort to lure the large corporate contracts of Norfolk International Airport. So far, the results are mixed. . . . ''
Leonard, a general aviation pilot and a member of the Chesapeake Airport Authority, sent us a longer letter. Here's part of it:
The real problem is not the competition to draw business jets to one airport or the other. . . . It's the destructive process that pits . . . one city against another . . . (despite) our limited resources in the Tidewater area.
This limited view of our area as just a group of independent cities, rather than a region which must work together, damages our area more than any ad blitz from another area.
The reality of economic development and the rivalry between our neighboring cities is an unfortunate fact of life, but only works to our loss and other region's gains.
I could not help but think of another article that you ran a few weeks earlier that discussed how our area has slipped significantly in the ``livability polls'' of major metro areas. Your article on the rival airports only serves as a clear example of how this situation is perpetuated and how it clearly costs our area in inefficient resource allocation and counter-productive infighting.
If this problem is not solved by our leaders taking a broader regional perspective, it will insure that Tidewater as a region will continue to be eclipsed by areas where cooperation is the norm.
Rather than pursuing a negative strategy of it's us or them when dealing with public projects in our region such as water, sewer, roads, and, yes, airports, a broader regional perspective is needed if we are to succeed.
The Lake Gaston pipe-line is a prime example where cooperation among the Tidewater cities is dearly needed or we will fail to solve a serious regional issue that affects one and all.
If we work with our sister cities in a regional effort, as seen in areas like Jacksonville and Charlotte, we have the resources and talent to compete successfully. If we continue to view our situation in parochial views limited only to our individual cities we are doomed to failure and second place at best. I would ask the following question: Don't we all win when any or all of our cities succeed and thrive?
If this divisive issue is not solved by aggressive leadership in all the cities of Tidewater, we can look forward to further erosion of our ranking as a desirable place to live and raise our families.
When people and companies look for desirable places to move, or even to expand existing operations, they look at how the area does things. . . .
The real loss due to our infighting and division will be the citizens of the Tidewater area due to an erosion of jobs and opportunity. . . .
J. Taylor Sims, the new business school dean at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, was quoted in a recent profile:
``Because of what's happened so rapidly in the international economy, and the dynamic nature of the U.S. economy in terms of downsizing, it's necessary for us to reach out to the business community and find a way for them to react immediately with the business school,'' Sims said. ``We have to ask, `What skills do we need to equip our students with?' ''
The profile drew a variety of responses from readers:
A Norfolk reader said ODU should supplant the traditional MBA program with six-week courses that help people in industry focus on the changing nature of business and markets.
A business student said Sims' proposals are fine, but the university should focus on fundamentals. Problems with copy machines, lighting, security and indoor temperatures turn off students.
With commercial fishing in decline, ODU should explore aquaculture as a business. Fish farming would help employ the watermen who are losing their livelihood, said a caller from Virginia Beach.
Stocks come back. Our phones rang and rang after we dropped the regional stocks chart in September. Folks plain liked the chart. Well, we solved the production headaches that led us to drop it in the first place. It's back for good starting today. We may make some small changes later. by CNB