The Hampton Roads Chamber recently facilitated an inter-regional visit to North Carolina from Sept. 23-25.
?The inter-regional visit took a deep dive into the thriving economies of the Raleigh, Durham and the Triangle region to determine best practices to improve our economy,” said Bryan K. Stephens, Chamber President and CEO.
The inter-regional visits allow a mix of business, academic and municipal leaders from Hampton Roads to travel to another region to analyze the success of thriving economies. In recent years the Chamber has traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, and Pittsburgh.
“Innovation, inclusion and diversity are a common theme wherever we go throughout the IRV,” Chesapeake Mayor Richard West said.
Delegates to the Triangle region were absorbed in discussions on economic development, sports marketing, transportation, workforce development and innovation. From panel to panel, business leaders echoed the theme of regional collaboration, diversity and inclusive talent acquisition and retention efforts.
“Collaboration, innovation, diversity, and inclusivity are the four pillars of our regional strength,” said and Geoff Durham, president and CEO of the Durham Chamber of Commerce.
President and CEO of the Greater Raleigh Chamber, Adrienne Cole, echoed the praise of regionalism.
“We are not going to big against each other,” she said.
CHAMBER AWARDED FOR SUPPORTING VETERANS
The Chamber received the Virginia Values Veterans award for its continued support of veterans and their spouses.
The Chamber is proud to support veterans and their families and will continue to recognize the value veterans bring to the workforce. The V3 program is a free training and certification program for employers to help them implement nationally recognized best practices in recruiting, hiring and retaining highly-skilled and dependable Veterans.
STATE OF REGION IS GOOD
A full-speed economy and regional issues were discussed during the annual State of the Region Address on Oct. 1 at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott Hotel.
Topics focused on the regional economy, defense spending, tourism, women’s leadership, the economic effects of a hurricane, and marijuana usage in Hampton Roads.
“How are we doing? That’s always the question of the State of the Region report,” began Robert McNab, economics professor and director of the Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy at Old Dominion University.
McNab said there was good news for Hampton Roads since the economy is expected to grow by 2.4% in 2019, the third consecutive year of growth for the region. Employment has also grown at a record pace in Hampton Roads, 2% higher than in 2017, with more than 822,000 individuals employed.
“There is progress being made after a long and slow economic recovery, following the Great Recession,” he said. The overall sentiment was positive for the local economy.
“The Hampton Roads economy is in a better position today than it was last year, and a better position today than it was two years ago.”
SLEUTHING IN THE WORKPLACE
“We’re going to get the workplace investigation right the first time. That’s our goal,” said Kristina Vaquera, an attorney with Norfolk’s Jackson Lewis.
Jackson Lewis attorney Milena Radovic and Stacy Hawks from the local chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management and the City of Virginia Beach joined Vaquera at the “Investigations in the Workplace: The HR Sleuth” event.
The speakers laid out the implications of workplace grievances and investigations.
“Wage & Hour Mistakes You Never Knew You Were Making” is Nov. 21. To register, visit HamptonRoadsChamber.com.
Sara Garvin is communications coordinator for the Hampton Roads Chamber. Reach her at sgarvin@hrchamber.com.
