It's Fall in the Commonwealth, which means...football! (oops, I mean it's Public Policy Agenda time)!  In August, VEDA leadership held our annual retreat led by our 2020 incoming President, Jim Noel (York County) where we put a lot of effort into our Public Policy Agenda for the 2020 Virginia General Assembly session.  Over the last two months, we met with Governor Northam's administration and General Assembly leadership to make sure we are addressing all of the issues important to economic development. The agenda is comprehensive, and built on a strong foundation established over the last decade- and it includes ideas and thoughts from many of our members.  In the future, if there is a particular policy or budget item important to your community or organization that you want to make sure is included in our agenda, please reach out- we want to hear from you!

 

Football weather also means it's time for VEDA's final two events of the calendar year- our Fall Conference and the Winter Annual Membership meeting.  Thanks to our Fall Conference co-chairs, Jennifer Wakefield (Greater Richmond Partnership) and Keith Boswell (Virginia's Gateway Region), along with Program Committee leaders Greg Hitchin (City of Waynesboro) and Lori Melancon (VEDP) who pulled together an engaging agenda for our Richmond-based conference, built on our year-long theme of Telling the Virginia Story.  We've heard from many of you who walked away with a bag of new tricks and tools needed to achieve all of your organization's marketing and communication goals.

 

In our continued efforts to create as much value as possible for our members, we really amped up our professional development by bringing in Carol Johnson, a well-regarded sales expert to conduct two pre-conference sessions focused on "Building Competitive Advantage to Win--Consultative Economic Development Sales Training" in September around the Fall Conference. I personally was excited for the opportunity to sharpen my sales skills, and enjoyed seeing the variety of organizations and communities who took advantage of this new resource.  Please let us know if you would like VEDA to continue to create and facilitate sessions like this one

 

Next up is our Winter Meeting in early December! Please see details in this newsletter about registration and content- I hope to see you all in Waynesboro!

Stephanie Landrum

VEDA President

Alexandria Economic Development Partnership

The Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) has announced the Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund (CRCF) Request for Proposals (RFP) for FY2020.

 

The CRCF accelerates Virginia's economic growth by supporting high-potential technology commercialization projects at Virginia's public and private institutions of higher education, technology companies, and federal labs and nonprofit research organizations. A single solicitation for approximately $2.5 million will be offered in FY2020, through five programs: Commercialization, SBIR Matching Funds, STTR Matching Funds, Eminent Researcher Recruitment, and Matching Funds.

 

Since its inception in 2011, CRCF has awarded nearly $28 million dollars in support of early-stage technology development efforts in strategically important industries. This year, applications are invited in clean energy, cybersecurity, data analytics, life sciences, and unmanned systems. CLICK HERE for more information about these five sectors, programs, eligibility criteria, submission materials, resources, and the solicitation timeline.

 

The RFP will remain open until November 6, 2019. In FY2019, CIT issued one solicitation resulting in 41 awards for $2.51 million. These projects leveraged the Commonwealth's investment with approximately $6 million in matching funds. CRCF's portfolio of nearly 350 projects have leveraged more than $72 million in match and, this past year, reported more than $120 million in additional follow-on investments to support further technology advancement.

 

About the CRCF

The CRCF advances science- and technology-based research, development, and commercialization to drive economic growth in Virginia, create and foster high-potential technology companies in the Commonwealth, and to encourage and strengthen collaboration and partnerships between the public and private sector. The Fund seeks to advance Virginia's position in strategically important areas including, but not limited to human health, cybersecurity, smart communities, and unmanned systems.

Appointed by the AEDP Board of Directors in April 2015, Ste phanie has held leadership roles in the organization since 2005. 

AEDP is responsible for leading the City of Alexandria's efforts to grow the tax base, diversify the economy and attract and retain businesses and organizations. The public-private corporation is focused on defining and marketing Alexandria as an innovative, creative, diverse, knowledge-based community with a high quality of life, located in the heart of the booming Northern Virginia economy. AEDP utilizes marketing events, relationships with commercial brokerage, ownership and development communities, and media relations to promote Alexandria. The organization and its leadership serve as chief economic advisor to various groups in  Alexandria and provide advice and information to the Alexandria City Council, Planning Commission and City Departments.

 

AEDP is host to the Alexandria Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and Capitol Post, two organizations that support the formation and growth of entrepreneurs, the latter with a specific focus on veterans. As President & CEO, Stephanie provides strategic and financial oversight to these two hosted organizations.

Stephanie also acts as administrator for the City of Alexandria's Industrial Development Authority, a bond financing entity that assists qualified businesses and organizations with making investments within the City of Alexandria.

 

Stephanie serves in various capacities on Boards, Commissions and Committees related to economic development, marketing and business throughout the Washington, DC region. In 2017, she was selected to participate in the inaugural class of the Urban Land Institute's Washington Regional Fellows and in recent years she was inducted into both of the Washington Business Journal's annual Women Who Mean Business and

40 Under 40 awards programs. She also serves on the Executive Committee and  Board of the Virginia Economic Developers Association (VEDA)- as President in 2019- a statewide organization focused on shaping economic development public policy, as  well as providing strong and effective education and networking for economic development professionals.

 

Stephanie holds a Bachelor of Science degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA and a Master's in Business Administration from the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business. She grew up in the Mount Vernon area of Fairfax County, and lives in the Potomac Yard neighborhood of the City.

VEDA Board Member Voncile "Von" Gilbreath has been named Director of the Greater Williamsburg Partnership.  The Greater Williamsburg Partnership merged with the Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance-Business Council earlier this year. 

VEDA is fortunate to have the generous support of Annual Corporate Patrons who assist us in bringing great programming, scholarships, professional development opportunities and much more to VEDA members. If you have an opportunity, please thank them for their support of economic development in Virginia.

Williams Mullen  

To assist companies with the considerable number of legal and non-legal steps associated with relocating or expanding, Williams Mullen's Economic Development Team provides the guidance and know-how to make each transaction as smooth, efficient and cost-effective as possible. Led by former Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Pat Gottschalk, our multi-disciplinary team of attorneys and professionals brings significant skills and experience in the distinct services typically sought by relocating or expanding companies, including, federal, state and local government liaison, real estate, land use, energy, environmental permitting, corporate law, international transactions, immigration, labor and employment and intellectual property.

 

The Team's project focus is on advanced manufacturing, warehouse, distribution and logistics, research and development, technology (including information and communications technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, modeling and simulation and the like), headquarters, energy power generation (with an emphasis on renewable power - hydro, wind, solar, biomass, ethanol, etc.) and data centers.

Contact: Patrick O. Gottschalk

Email:  pgottschalk@williamsmullen.com  

Website:  http://www.williamsmullen.com/