DATE: Friday, July 25, 1997                 TAG: 9707250723

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   41 lines

ALLIANCE ADOPTS LOGO FOR HAMPTON ROADS

Hampton Roads has a new logo.

Unveiled Thursday at the first investors meeting of the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance, the design is blue and green with an anchor tucked alongside.

The alliance, a regional public-private marketing organization formerly called Forward Hampton Roads, plans to use the logo in all its advertisements and correspondence in an effort to build ``Hampton Roads'' as a brand name.

Area leaders agree that the name Hampton Roads is not widely recognized in the national and international business community.

The logo was created by Barker Campbell Farley & Mansfield advertising agency. According to company representatives, the green lettering in the word ``Hampton'' represents land and environment, and the blue lettering in ``Roads'' represents water. The anchor was chosen as an icon that best illustrates the region, they said.

The alliance has already adopted it, Chairman John P. Matson said.

In addition to presenting the new logo, the alliance's annual meeting brought together for the first time leaders from all five South Hampton Roads cities, along with representatives from many of the more than 100 businesses that contributed cash to the regional economic development project.

About $5 million was raised from the cities - which each pledged $1 per resident per year for five years - and the remaining $6 million came from the business community.

``In all marriages, the road in the first year can be bumpy,'' said Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf, referring to the new partnership among cities more accustomed to bickering than cooperating.

But Oberndorf and the other leaders all expressed optimism that pooling the region's resources will lure more and better-paying jobs to all the cities.

``Obviously,'' said Portsmouth Mayor James W. Holley III, ``there is a feeling in the community that this is a direction we need to go.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Logo] KEYWORDS: MARKETING REGIONALISM

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu