THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 26, 1995 TAG: 9505240183
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Ida Kay's Portsmouth
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
A gully-washer of a storm topped off with thunder and lightning moved into town last Friday afternoon just about the same time Inc. 500 conventioneers were getting ready to load boats and trolleys to journey to Portsmouth's Portside for a Southern-style gourmet feast.
Of about 1,000 visiting business people expected for the occasion, some 750 came in spite of the weather. Three food tents were crowded as visitors tried to avoid the rain. Others found places in Portside, where businesses were closed for the evening.
As one visitor told me, Inc. 500 businesses all started as small businesses even if they have grown into larger companies, so the executives aren't easily put off.
``These people have all done their own sweeping,'' she said. ``They know what work is and they certainly don't mind a little rain.''
The people I talked to were very interested in Portsmouth.
``Most of them have never been anywhere in Hampton Roads,'' Portsmouth Economic Development Director Matthew James said. ``I think they really were impressed.''
The evening in Portsmouth featured not only groaning boards of food. It also included trolley and carriage tours of Olde Towne and visits to the Children's Museum as well as tours of the Elizabeth River harbor aboard the Carrie B.
James said the delegates were ``very impressed'' by the show in regionalism for the conference.
``It was one of those rare occasions when all the cities put into the pot and all participated,'' James said.
Norfolk put in $40,000 since the conference was held there. Other cities contributed various amounts. In Portsmouth, $2,500 came from the city's budget and $2,500 came from the city's Industrial Development Authority for a total public contribution of $5,000 from Portsmouth.
The conference was 70 percent funded by corporations in the area, James said.
Portsmouth's corporate sponsors were Hoechst Celanese, Commerce Bank and Cogentrix Energy.
Incidentally, Cogentrix was No. 1 on Inc. magazine's list of America's 500 fastest-growing private companies in 1989 and 1990 and was the first to win the award two consecutive years.
Headquartered in Charlotte, the 12-year-old company owns and operates a 120 MW electric power generating plant in Portsmouth, one of 10 facilities it owns in Virginia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Mark Little of the Portsmouth office of Cogentrix said winning the Inc. 500 award helped the company break out of its regional image. Since 1990, it has opened offices in Portland, Ore., Singapore and Bangalore, India.
In addition, Little said, the award also attracted attention in Charlotte.
Coincidental with the conference here of the Inc. 500 companies, Portsmouth-based Earl Industries merged with Digital Systems Research, an Arlington company on this year's list of the top 500. At the same time, Earl Industries was accepting another national award.
Although Earl Industries will continue to operate as a division under its own name, it is now part of the winning Northern Virginia company. Chances are we'll be hearing more of this combination of two winners.
In a story on the next page, Jerry Miller of Earl Industries is more than complimentary of Portsmouth. The Cogentrix folks are likewise.
At last Friday night's social for the Inc. 500 group, everybody seemed impressed with Portsmouth - even in the rain! Maybe we're finally working out of the mire, working toward brighter days.
But a few businesses and city officials won't make it happen.
Every person in this city is responsible for its image. Negative stuff travels fast, especially when people want to believe it.
Many times Portsmouth people speak without knowledge and make negative comments based on hearsay; yet people elsewhere will believe them because they ought to know even if they don't.
Those who live here ought to keep their mouths shut if they can't say something nice about Portsmouth. Or, at the least, they should be sure of their facts before they start sounding off. by CNB