Cultivating Collaboration

The EDA proves that great minds think together. Throughout the past year, we continued to forge strategic partnerships, sharing ideas and gathering colleagues together to enhance innovation through networking.

We travel the world to bring actionable ideas home, teaming with others to take this region to new levels of economic success.

How far will our team go to drive development? In July 2023, our commitment to excellence routed
us to Europe, as the Hampton Roads Alliance and Hampton Roads Workforce Council jointly facilitated a breakthrough visit to Germany. Florence G. Kingston, Director of Development, participated in the delegation, which included Hampton Roads mayors, business and educational leaders, and workforce and economic development professionals, to explore Germany’s dual-track vocational education and training (VET) program.

We commend Germany’s VET program which supports roughly 1.3 million vocational apprentices per year, driving talent development within the landscape of high-tech industries. The delegation visited the corporate headquarters of Stihl and IMS:Gear, manufacturers with facilities in both Hampton Roads and southern Germany, to understand how the companies rely on apprentices within the local secondary education system to fill workforce demands. 

As a result of the visit, local leaders will focus on increasing collaboration between high schools, universities, community colleges and technical colleges in Hampton Roads, in order to emulate the attributes of the VET program. The program was of particular interest because Newport News is home to Newport News Shipbuilding’s 100-year old Apprentice School, one of the preeminent apprentice programs in the country.

Stateside, Newport News hosted innovative workshops and meetings throughout the year. In March, Newport News hosted nearly 270 people for the Spring Conference of the Virginia Economic Developers Association (VEDA), a non-partisan group of individuals with a professional interest in economic development across the Commonwealth. Sessions focused on best practices and included experts from Newport News for discussions on “Building Capacity: A Case Study from Eastern Virginia Regional Industrial Facility Authority” and “Utilizing Apprenticeships to Build a Skilled Workforce.” Pre-conference events highlighted the research and innovations underway at Jefferson Lab and Brooks Crossing Innovation & Opportunity Center. 

In January, Newport News partnered with the Department of Housing & Community Development to cohost a Virginia Enterprise Zone (VEZ) workshop on “How to Qualify & Apply” for state incentives. More than 45 people attended, representing businesses from Newport News, Hampton and Norfolk. The VEZ Program is a state and local partnership and a critical tool in supporting business expansion. Newport News is proud to be home to two VEZ zones and continues to be among the top users in the state, consistently leveraging a significant share of the grant dollars. Nearly all of The City’s industrial and business parks are in these VEZs, as well as many of its commercial corridors.

The EDA also served as host to a Virginia DHCD workshop covering topics such as land use, marketing, and analyses to stimulate developer interest and support place-driven economic development. 

The workshop drew economic developers from around the region to the Greater Hilton area showing off the area’s key features, including the Main Street Library and commercial district.

Supporting small businesses, staff worked with the Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce to produce a new Small Business Educational Series, “Start, Grow, Thrive: Succeeding in Business.” These monthly events featured experts on topics ranging from writing business plans to access to capital. Our staff supported the series in a variety of ways, attending the sessions to meet businesses and entrepreneurs and sharing resources such as loans, grants and incentives offered by Newport News. 

Since leasing its current location in Oyster Point from the EDA in 2020, Virginia Technical Academy (VTA) has continued to find success delivering hands-on trades skill training. In 2023, VTA supported training for over 250 students and has nurtured relationships with social services partners within the region to support job training and credentialing for at-risk individuals. Additionally, VTA is working to provide tailored training solutions for business and government work with clients that include Newport News Shipbuilding, the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy.

In June 2023, the Virginia Technical Academy (VTA) was awarded a SWaMmy Award by the Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity for its role in providing innovative solutions throughout the pandemic. VTA adapted its training methods and was responsive to the needs of its students to continue providing workforce training and skill development through the COVID pandemic.

Looking for creative ways to enhance our science-based and aviation/aerospace communities, the EDA was thrilled to welcome the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International’s (AUVSI) Hampton Roads Chapter for an exposition. AUVSI is a professional association promoting uncrewed systems across air, land, sea and
space ecosystems, bringing together businesses, educational institutions and government. The expo’s theme of “Transforming Aviation for the Future” featured a number of presentations and demonstrations about technological capabilities and potential applications of uncrewed systems. 

Our successes this year led to economic advances – and major recognition from our peers. Development Director
Florence G. Kingston was nominated by economic development professionals from the Alliance’s Regional Economic Developers (RED) Team to serve as the RED Team Chair, on the Alliance Board of Directors for 2023. Florence led timely and direct two-way communication between the RED Team Chair and the Alliance’s President and Board of Directors, drawing attention to policy-level matters impacting local economic development practitioners in the region.

Newport News served as a founding member of the Eastern Virginia Regional Industrial Facility Authority (EVRIFA) and was instrumental in the initial administration and establishment of the regional authority. Management of EVRIFA has transitioned to be under the auspices of the Hampton Roads Alliance. Following the implementation of the Kings Creek Commerce Center project in York County, EVRIFA, with guidance from the Hampton Roads Alliance, is exploring opportunities to leverage its regional framework to provide expanded value for its member communities, including areas such as ready sites and brownfield assessment and redevelopment.

We also played a founding support role with the business validation and entrepreneurial competition, Start Peninsula. The 2023 Start Peninsula event stands out as a symbol of what can be achieved when innovation is nurtured, diversity embraced and entrepreneurial dreams are supported. 75% of finalists in the sold out micro pitch competitions were women and/or minority founders. This statistic reflects Start Peninsula’s inclusive
approach and underscores the diverse talent pool shaping the future of entrepreneurship in the region.