THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 19, 1995 TAG: 9503180241
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 194 lines
Call it what you want, but Plan 2007 can be summarized in one word: jobs.
The blueprint for Hampton Roads' growth into the 21st century reached its first anniversary this year, with varying degrees of success:
It set up a framework for building a more diverse job pool by helping Old Dominion University win a $7.1 million grant. The grant will fund a retraining program for exiting military and defense workers.
It organized a maritime and university consortium to seek $2.4 million in defense conversion grants for a Center for Advanced Ship Repair and Maintenance. The center will develop and use new technologies to make the local ship-repair and -maintenance industry more competitive.
It created a data base through the Small Business Development Center for equity capital sources and an investor network to serve entrepreneurs.
Advocates of Plan 2007, sponsored by the Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce and the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, hailed these and other projects during its first year as an absolute victory. The projects show that regionalism, something long sought to pull the economy forward, has become widely accepted, they say.
Others not nearly as enamored with the plan hide their criticism. Though it is too early to assess the plan's long-range success, some suggest its leaders still don't have the broad-based support needed to meld the 1.5 million-person metropolitan area into a unified community.
``Regionalism is important,'' said Conway Sheild, co-chairman of the plan's steering committee and an attorney at the Newport News law firm of Jones, Blechman, Woltz & Kelly. ``The problem is the level of awareness of that problem or idea is not widely viewed as requiring immediate attention.''
That's why the necessity and urgency of 2007 remain undisputed by private-sector members of the two chambers. Members of the business, educational and municipal communities - rather than a massive grass-roots movement of ordinary citizens - anticipated sizable defense and defense-related industry cutbacks. They spearheaded the design of Plan 2007, which refers to the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown settlement.
Department of Defense decisions to eliminate dozens of military installations throughout the nation in the post-Cold War era worried Hampton Roads residents, who feared a substantial portion of their military and civilian jobs would be cut.
Local military-related industries like shipbuilding began to act upon their dwindling orders from slimmed-down federal defense budgets. Newport News Shipbuilding, the state's largest private employer, planned to trim 7,000 more jobs by 1997.
``We had to face the question: How do we remain economically viable and a prosperous, solid area if this happens?'' said Arnold McKinnon, a chairman of the 2007 executive committee and retired chairman of Norfolk Southern Corp. ``That's where we looked at the 2007 process. As an economic region, we're Hampton Roads and not individual communities, and we had to face it in a way we never had to before.''
Confronting impending changes in the local economy, 430 participants - university officials, banking and real estate executives, economists, engineers and scientists - at a regional brainstorming session during summer 1993 wanted to stem the job loss.
They devised the blueprint now called Plan 2007 as a guideline of strategies and industries in which to concentrate regional economic growth and create or nurture high-quality, well-paying jobs.
Although they did not outline annual goals, leaders of 2007 say the thrust of the first year was getting organized.
``The single most important thing coming out so far has been the assimilation of the philosophy in the two communities to thinking on regional terms, which we haven't been good at,'' Sheild said.
Not everyone, though, is completely on board.
``The public sector hasn't really bought into it,'' said James F. Babcock, another co-chairman of the 2007 steering committee.
The plan's progress has been hindered by the lack of participation and outright acceptance by elected officials in Hampton Roads.
The public sector provides real teeth in the plan because it controls the financial resources necessary to make the plan's strategies happen.
Although city officials from Hampton Roads may have contributed ideas, Plan 2007 is primarily driven by the private sector, especially leaders of the region's elite business, science and educational institutions.
``The public sector wasn't too involved in the development of Plan 2007,'' said Hampton Mayor Jimmy Eason. ``I don't think it's anyone's fault. The organizers certainly extended the invitation. The public sector didn't participate a great deal.''
The crux of the problem boils down to sharing resources.
``I don't think anyone is questioning that regionalism is not important,'' Sheild said. ``Everyone has only so many dollars to throw at their community.''
Plan 2007 proponents, for example, want to coordinate all economic development under a new public-private entity, the Hampton Roads Partnership. It would replace Forward Hampton Roads, the economic development arm of the Southside's chamber of commerce, and the Virginia Peninsula Economic Development Council, which serves Peninsula communities.
Forward Hampton Roads and the Peninsula development council duplicate actions and resources that could be streamlined in one entity. The private sector already invests $750,000 in the two organizations, whereas the public sector invests about $7.9 million annually in regional economic development.
By pooling those resources, the plan's leaders think more effective regional marketing could help entice desirable firms or attractions.
Business leaders, citizens and city officials complain about losing valuable companies and business to Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Jacksonville and Atlanta.
``Plan 2007 is motivated both by the perception that we are losing ground to competitor regions, as shown by slowing growth and lower income levels, and by the realization that we are suboptimizing relative to our opportunities for growth,'' Babcock said.
``There's power in numbers,'' he said. ``If we pool our resources, we can make a bigger impact if we have a single strong message.''
The difficulty lies in asking each city or county to authorize such a regional body. Most municipalities strike out individually from fear of losing out to neighbors who cannot present their city's case as strongly.
But progress has been made recently.
The Mayors and Chairs Caucus, a group composed of the mayors and city managers of the 15 districts in the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, discussed how to implement Plan 2007 during an all-day retreat and have met monthly to address related issues.
``What we're trying to do now is link the effort between the people who really developed Plan 2007 and the public sector,'' Eason said.
``The urgency is that we know we need to be different as we move from defense to nondefense economy. There's a window of opportunity for us to be proactive in shaping our future rather than just responding to events as they come forward.'' MEMO: PLAN 2007: THE GOAL
On its 400th anniversary in 2007, Hampton Roads will be. . .
America's gateway, the premier port on the nation's Eastern Seaboard
the defense establishment's primary strategic location on the East
Coast
a maritime community with unique shipbuilding and ship repair
capabilities
a center of advanced technological research, engineering and
manufacturing
a globally competitive tourism destination
the model wellness community of the eastern United States
...and Hampton roads will be renowned for its
superior multimodal transportation system
strong support network for business and manufacturing
excellent system of schools and universities
high quality of life and culture
sound government and committed community leaders
Source: the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce
PLAN 2007 LEADERS
Arnold B. McKinnon, chairman of the Plan 2007 executive committee
Age: 67
Occupation: retired chairman of Norfolk Southern Corp.
Education: B.A. and LL.B. degrees from Duke University
Family: married, 3 children
Served in the U.S. Army. Sits on the Board of Commissioners for the
Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority and Virginia Port Authority,
the board of directors of the CADRE Foundation, National Maritime Center
Foundation and others.
James F. Babcock, co-chairman of Plan 2007 executive committee
Age: 61
Occupation: chairman and CEO of First Virginia Bank of Tidewater
Education: B.A. from Princeton University; MBA from Wharton School of
the University of Pennsylvania
Family: married, 3 children
Served in the U.S. Navy. Chairman of the Governor's Regional Economic
Development Advisory Council. Sits on the Board of Visitors for Old
Dominion University. Member of Hampton Roads Port and Maritime
Management Advisory Council. Past president of the Hampton Roads Chamber
of Commerce.
Conway H. Sheild III, co-chairman of Plan 2007 executive committee
Age: 52
Occupation: lawyer with Jones, Blechman, Woltz & Kelly, P.C.
Education: B.S. and LL.B. degrees from Washington and Lee University
Family: married, 1 son
Served in U.S. Army. Past chairman of Virginia Peninsula Chamber of
Commerce. Past president of Virginia International Terminals Inc.,
Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News Bar Association. President of
Peninsula YMCA. Past chairman of United Way of Virginia Peninsula.
ILLUSTRATION: Color drawing by Adriana Libreros, Staff
Photos
Arnold B. McKinnon
James F. Babcock
Conway H. Sheild III
KEYWORDS: REGIONALISM ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MERGER TWENTY-FIRST
CENTURY ECONOMY STANDARD METROPOLITAN AREA by CNB