Richmond’s FutureInter-regional StrategiesBob HolsworthOctober 30, 2014

4 Inter-regional Questions Are there common interests with Hampton Roads

that should lead to joint endeavors? Can RVA benefit from the economic dynamism of

NOVA while retaining its quality of place advantages?

Can RVA take better advantage of its status as the state capital of Virginia?

Can we envision a Higher Education Corridor up and down I-64 in which colleges and universities collaborate on innovative curricula, research, community engagement, and cost reduction?

Hampton Roads-Richmond:Collaboration Chronology

Tom Frantz presents ideas about a mega-region to Richmond’s Future

Gene Trani and Bob Holsworth present information about Richmond’s Future to Norfolk business community.

Follow-up conversation abut potential joint research topics

Meeting organized at W&M between Hampton Roads business community and members of Richmond’s Business Roundtable.

Memorandum of agreement signed by respective business communities to focus joint attention on I-64 widening, Port relations, and opportunities related to potential 460 widening

Hampton Roads (HR): State of the Region

Produced annually by Dr. Jim Koch and his team at ODU

HR ranks 302 out of 381 U.S. metro areas in employment growth (2.4%) since the end of the “Great Recession”

The average of Virginia metro areas (excluding HR) is 221 (4.5%) out of 381

HR employment growth in the last 12 months ranks 321 out of 381 U.S. metro areas (-.1%)

RVA had has the highest employment growth (1.9%) in the last 12 months of Virginia metro areas, ranking 124 out of 381.

Hampton Roads:Defense and Tourism

Total defense spending in HR relatively steady since 2011, buoyed by two major contracts at Newport News Shipyard

Yet personnel and ships continue to decline because of overall downsizing, shift in strategic focus and cost of military assets

Hotel revenues in 2013 were 6.8% below their peak in 2007.

Over the last 15 years, regional hotel market share in Virginia Beach increased from 33.2% to 40.8%

Regional hotel market share in Williamsburg has decreased from 31.5% to 18.3%

Data from Koch’s State of the Region

Hampton Roads:Port of Virginia

Activity at the Port of Virginia is the major bright spot in the HR economy

Market share continues to grow with 17.21% of the east coast Market, up from 14.88% in 2011

Has generated an operating profit in 5 of the last 6 months

Will have a relative advantage in the post-Panamax era for several years

CSX and NS upgrades should benefit the PortInformation from Koch’s State of the Region

RVA-HR Collaboration Most fruitful area may be to focus on matters related

to capitalizing on the growth at the Port of Virginia. Potential investments in upgrades at the Port of

Richmond to increase barge traffic Can the Port of Richmond be developed as an inland

port? Are there “valued-added” opportunities in terms of

distribution facilities and light manufacturing along routes from the Port.

Can an enhanced route460 be a catalyst for economic development?

NOVA Dynamism NOVA is part of a world-class metro area –NOVA-D.C.-MD Per capital personal income in NOVA is approximately $15,000

above the statewide average of $48,773. NOVA is the only region of the state where personal income is

above the state average. Highest educational attainment levels in the state, more than

50% of adults over 25 have at least a Bachelor’s degree Has almost double the advanced degree attainment (22.9%)

of any other region Highest third grade reading performance Most concentrated tech community Most multi-cultural and diverse region

Data taken from Virginia Performs

NOVA Challenges Traffic, Traffic, Traffic Federal budget cuts have stalled the

growth machine Employment growth in the past 12

months ranks 256 out of 381 U.S. metro areas

Relatively high cost of living Overall quality of place concerns

RVA v. NOVA:2nd in the state

RVA is often second highest region in the state on most economic and educational indicators

Second highest per capita income Second highest Bachelor’s degree

attainment Second highest advanced degree attainment In the last 12 months, employment growth

rate has outperformed NOVA

RVA v. NOVA:Quality of Place

RVA reports the least traffic congestion of major Virginia metro areas (Virginia Performs)

RVA cost of housing and cost of living is considerably lower

RVA is developing more of the amenities that make NOVA attractive to a multicultural public

A NOVA-RVA Connection? NOVA has extended south to Fredericksburg in the last

30 years. Further southern expansion limited by road capacity

and/or time and reliability of trains. High speed rail could be a potential game-changer,

actually connecting the Urban Crescent in ways that are inconceivable today

But high speed rail will not occur in the short term- most likely scenario in the next 5-10 years is higher speed rail, perhaps shortening trip from RVA to D.C. to 90 minutes.

A long-term RVA vision should consider potential advantages that higher and high speed rail could bring.

Can RVA LeverageIts State Capital Status?

The economic development literature rarely uses state capital status as a category

State capitals are extraordinarily diverse- some are major, national cities, others are isolated, relatively small locales, other are mid-sized metro area- don’t always have similar economic development or tourism profiles.

New York does identify the district around Albany as the Capital District in its regional economic development strategy- promoting its mix of a first class university, smart people, high tech capacity, and entrepreneurial spirit

What Might RVA Do Utilize capital city status in three ways:

Promote the mix of higher education, talented people, high tech innovation and quality of place in economic development efforts.

Define ourselves as the heart and soul or essence of the new “Virginia” for branding purposes- the vibrant mix of artistic culture, nationally recognized restaurants, extraordinary architecture, and a fresh examination of our heritage and history.

Use the amazing restoration of the Capitol itself as a draw in itself (see the reviews on Trip Advisor) and provide easier parking access for visitors.

Better position RVA to recruit young talent from the education corridor within and adjacent to the capital city.

A Higher Education Corridor? “There is a lot of talk about disruption in

higher education. We think that the real disruption will come through collaboration…. While there are many institutions that have come up with creative solutions to some of our sectors’ most urgent problems, these ideas rarely travel far from where they are hatched.”

Michael Crow, President, Arizona State University

Decentralized Universities:Serving Virginia Well Virginia’s public university system is relatively

decentralized Each four-college has an independent board with

a statewide coordinating body (SCHEV) The Community College System has a statewide

policy-making board supplemented by individual boards for each college.

The decentralized approach has enabled Virginia to create a powerful public university system where multiple universities have strong regional and national reputations

Decentralized Universities:Voluntary Collaboration

Extensive articulation agreements between community colleges and four ear institutions.

The Top Jobs Legislation of 2011 provided incentives for colleges and universities to deliver more degrees, to increase production in high demand STEM-H areas, and to more fully utilize resources and facilities.

Universities have developed research collaborations such as VMS/VCU Rice Center in Conservation Biology.

CCAM and CCALS are models of businesses and multiple universities collaborating

4-VA is a collaboration among 4 Virginia colleges and universities with Cisco Systems that is utilizing telepresence and other technologies to promote course sharing, degree completion and research collaborations.

Incentivized Collaboration? Reduce average student debt load with

incentives to graduate from community colleges before transferring to a four year institution.

Having SCHEV require information about plans for inter-institutional collaboration on course sharing, research collaborations, and community engagement to be part of an institution’s six year plan.

Adjust funding formulas to reward institutions and recognize faculty members for successful cross-institution collaboration

Higher EducationOn the I-64 Corridor

In fall, 2013, there were 105,579 students enrolled in the 7 public four-year institutions on the I-64 corridor (CNU, W&M, NSU, ODU, UVA, VCU, and VSU) between Charlottesville and Norfolk.

The I-64 schools had 49% of the total enrollment (214, 667) in Virginia’s four year public colleges and universities and more than 50% of the total graduate enrollment

4 of the state’s five largest community colleges (JSRCC, JTCC, TCC, TNCC) are also located on the corridor

3 of the state’s 4 largest privates (Hampton, Richmond, and Regent) are also located on the corridor.

The majority of enrollment in advanced health care education occurs in schools along the corridor. (includes EVMS)

How RVA Can Benefit Establish more organized efforts to recruit

students from the corridor to live and work in RVA

Develop and brand a community college-four year school collaboration to reduce the cost of an education

Develop collaborations that enable RVA to utilize the institutions on the corridor to recruit high value businesses

Develop collaborations to address key regional social challenges

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