Made in the Piedmont

Published in the Culpeper Times, Made in the Piedmont Monday, June 4, 2012 

I recently had an opportunity to look through what seemed like the Hubble Telescope. I had the fortune to talk at length with the new President & CEO of VEDP –Virginia Economic Development Partnership, Martin Briley. Although we did not venture into the frontiers of Wallops Island space exploration, our discussion did focus on the global economy, with Virginia as the center of the universe.

My interest was to understand the impact that the VEDP has on the Culpeper region. Mr. Briley, well prepared for the discussion, offered statistics for the number of clients that have looked at our area, the number that through their efforts have located here, and how many prospects there are in the pipeline. All very good, however, the real story is that VEDP is very aware of Culpeper and our regional assets. As I pressed him to discuss some of the issues that we face, he was agile in founding my confidence by providing answers with remarkable detail.

Mr. Briley’s finger on the pulse of our region may have something to do with the research arm of VEDP. I was curious about the research and interested in having access to the data. He was a step ahead on this one too. Looking at the VEDP website, there is a wealth of information about our area displayed from several perspectives. This makes it very easy to see that we are business friendly in Virginia and welcome opportunities in Culpeper.

He described four progressive initiatives underway at VEDP that serve Virginia and our region. First, Increase Market Share – The objective is to look into the telescope (my term) and identify emerging markets, take inventory of our assets across the state, and deploy teams to capture opportunities,  bringing domestic and global business opportunities to Virginia.

Second, VEDP is taking inventory of the partnership assets in Virginia. The effort to understand the economic players in the Commonwealth, gain feedback from them, and produce a concerted message about Virginia to the domestic and global markets, is an exponential initiative. Some of our Economic Development assets include local economic development agencies, regional partnerships like TJPED, Universities, Community Colleges, the Port Authority, and Chambers of Commerce.

Third, VEDP is focused on the Federal Budget and the impact that it may have on Virginia. There are agencies that are projected to have significant budget cuts. Virginia is one of the largest beneficiaries of Federal spending. We need to be prepared to find solutions. VEDP has deployed a team to work on this issue from inside the beltway.

I offered one of my solutions to potentially offset the budget cut impact. According to Mr. Briley there are roughly 25,000 government contractors in Virginia. Culpeper could serve as a lower cost solution for contractor operations in order to shelter Federal budget cut demands. Our infrastructure with power, water, plenty of dark fiber, and quality of life are inviting. DC &  NOVA are easily accessible by train and automobile. Quantico, Richmond, and Charlottesville are an easy drive. Our 5,000’ Jet Port runway is now home to chartered flights for easy regional travel.

One of my takeaways from the Steve Jobs biography was his passion for optimized organizational excellence. In my view the fourth initiative, to study the VEDP as an organization in order to align the internal operations with the VEDP mission, sounded much like the passion describing Steve Jobs.  The VEDP mission statement is powerful:

"To enhance the quality of life and raise the standard of living for all Virginians, in collaboration with Virginia communities, through aggressive business recruitment, expansion assistance, and trade development, thereby expanding the tax base and creating higher-income employment opportunities."

The impact of VEDP is significant to our local economy. I was only able to scan the surface of the VEDP universe of service to our business community in this article. Go to www.YesVirginia.org to find out more about the services available to strengthen our business opportunities.

To Mr. Briley / VEDP, the General Assembly, and the Governor – It is great to be on the Virginia Team – Well Done!!!