| From the President | |
On May 17, I attended Governor McDonnell's 2010 Business Appreciation Breakfast in Richmond. My successor, Barry DuVal, who will assume the reins of the Virginia Chamber on July 1, attended as well. It is noteworthy that in his well-delivered remarks, Governor McDonnell singled out both of us for special recognition before a diverse business and government audience. There is no question that the Virginia Chamber of Commerce is viewed by policymakers at the highest level as a factor and as an ally in the continuing task of maintaining Virginia's competitiveness and restoring its prosperity. These are difficult times, but we're working through them, and the current administration is riveted on improving the Virginia economy. As the Governor noted, the heavy lifting will be done by business.
And that's the way it should be.
Business, generically, has been under fire in an unprecedented fashion in recent months, some of it deserved, much of it not. Virginia businesses have been caught up in the web of miscues and questionable practices by out-of-state corporations. From Wall Street to the Gulf of Mexico, missteps by corporations that know better have cast a pall on the operations of thousands of companies located in the Commonwealth that invest in the future, give people work and provide for their employees. That willingness to invest is in doubt right now, but slowly, confidence is returning. Governor McDonnell is reinforcing that confidence in Virginia to the best of his ability. Organizations like the Virginia Chamber can and are being helpful in every reasonable fashion.
So, chin up, Virginia. We've got lots to do. |
| Virginia Among Nation's Leaders in Growing Jobs | |
Virginia's commitment to developing new and emerging industries has it ranked among the top states in the country when it comes to growing jobs, according to a brand new study from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Chamber Foundation. The Enterprising States study highlights how state and local policies-including those in Virginia-play a vital role in spurring job creation and economic development.
"By embracing many of the strategies at the core of our free enterprise system-competitive tax rates, open trade, and commonsense regulation-states are helping to jumpstart our economic recovery and create more jobs," wrote Tom Donohue, President & CEO of the U.S. Chamber, in a letter to Governor Bob McDonnell. "Many of the new ideas, new companies, and new jobs will come from local initiatives that allow the free market to do what it does best."
The Enterprising States study was released at an event where a bipartisan group of governors from around the country discussed the role of the free enterprise system in job creation. Through this study, the Chamber is highlighting bipartisan state and local policies- including those in Virginia-that have proven to help create jobs and that will be key to our economic recovery. The study is part of the U.S. Chamber's American Free Enterprise. Dream Big. campaign, a comprehensive nationwide effort to create 20 million jobs in the next 10 years.
Specifically, the study highlights how Virginia is playing a pivotal role in fostering the conditions for job growth through a large concentration of internationally recognized research and development facilities, programs to accelerate exports, and enterprise-friendly tax and regulation policies.
The Enterprising States study highlights six factors that drive job creation: innovation, productivity through investments in workforce development and training, science and technology, infrastructure, exporting, and competitive tax rates. The study found that states are much more active than the federal government on the job creation and economic development front and that high tax rates do not lead to either healthy economies or budgets. Similarly, the study looks at how states have implemented initiatives for reducing red tape to help businesses sort through the many layers of government regulation and have incentivized private-sector investors primarily with tax credits. It also highlights that targeted investments in infrastructure projects at the state-level can create growth friendly environments in communities. Science- and technology-based economic development and clean tech initiatives are proliferating amongst virtually all of the states. There is widespread support for doubling exports, and there are also states that have made significant headway using strategies for foreign direct investment. Finally, cultivating people through workforce development will drive economic growth at the state-level, the study shows. The Enterprising States study is available at http://ncf.uschamber.com/enterprising-states/ . |
| U.S. Chamber Honors 230 Pro-Business Lawmakers | |
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently honored 230 lawmakers with its annual "Spirit of Enterprise Award" for their support of pro-growth legislation during the first session (2009) of the 111th Congress. Among those recognized from Virginia were Congressmen Wittman, Forbes, Goodlatte, Cantor, Boucher and Wolf. The rest did not make the cut.
Eligibility for the award is based on how members of Congress voted on key business issues, which the Chamber outlines in its annual publication How They Voted. These designated "key votes" are recorded floor votes on issues established as priorities on which the Chamber communicates its position prior to the vote. Those members of Congress who supported the Chamber's position on at least 70 percent of those votes received the award.
The Chamber scored Congress on seven Senate and fifteen House votes in 2009, including the economic stimulus package, legislation to promote the U.S. as a travel destination abroad, and both the House and Senate health care reform bills.
If your member was recognized, please take a minute to thank them. If they fell short, remind them.
Our friends at the state level will soon provide scores on how the 2010 General Assembly performed on a range of business issues. We'll share those with you. |
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The View from the Back Office
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- Transportation Update. Well, for a while, we haven't had much to report on the transportation funding side. But recently, that has changed.
Since last month, there have been several items of worthy note. First, Governor McDonnell has authorized the sale of over $500 million of bonds to pay for various projects around the Commonwealth. These bonds, as you may recall, were authorized by HB 3202, which was approved in 2007. These bonds and several land use changes constitute almost all that remains of that legislation, with much of the remainder having been declared unconstitutional by the Virginia Supreme Court. A news release from the Governor's Office listed the following as projects that (among others) these bonds will help fund:
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Interstate 81 truck-climbing lanes (Staunton and Salem districts)
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Lynnhaven Interchange on I-264 (Hampton Roads District)
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Route 29 Gainesville Interchange on I-66 (Northern Virginia District)
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Eleven bridge rehabilitations on I -95 (Richmond District)
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Route 460 Connector (Bristol District)
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Building a new interchange on Route 15 at Route 17 (Culpeper District)
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Reconstruction of Route 610 (Fredericksburg District)
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Route 265 Franklin Turnpike Connector (Lynchburg District)
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Dulles Metrorail
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Norfolk Light Rail
The Governor has also proposed that Virginia be allowed to enact a $1-$2 per axle toll on I-95 at the Virginia-North Carolina border. The funds raised from this initiative would be used to pay for improvements in the I-95 corridor. In addition, he has issued a new Request for Proposals (RFP) for PPTA proposals for a new Route 460, an important part of the plan to help evacuate Hampton Roads in times of natural disaster and to reduce truck traffic on other highways.
Finally, the Governor has recently announced the approval of a contract to begin improvements on I-66 in northern Virginia. While a small first step, the Governor also stated that at a later date, he will be rolling out a more comprehensive proposal for I-66.
- Governor Announces Housing Policy Advisory Committee. The Governor has announced the formation of a Housing Policy Advisory Committee to help formulate an overall housing policy for the Commonwealth. This committee will be led by Senior Economic Advisor Bob Sledd and will help develop the McDonnell Administration's housing policy, which "will address homelessness and expanding affordable housing, as well as workforce housing, economic development, healthy neighborhoods, effective coordination of transportation, environmental issues and other opportunities," according to a release from the Governor's Office. |
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Cleaning Up the Chesapeake Bay
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to insist on unrealistic deadlines for establishing a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for the Chesapeake Bay.
The TMDL sets a pollution budget for the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment that can be discharged in the Bay. Developers, agriculture and waste water treatment plants have front line responsibility for meeting the budgets that EPA is developing. The implications for the business community in general are great. If the budgets set by the EPA are too stringent, developers and waste water treatment plants will not be able to get water permits to accommodate economic growth, and the business community as a whole will suffer.
As part of the TMDL process, EPA has committed to developing a new and better model for determining the amount of phosphorus, nitrogen and sediment currently going into the Bay. They have admitted that their new model is flawed. First, it does not properly account for the amount of impervious surface in the Bay watershed. The amount of impervious surface in the watershed is directly related to the amount of pollutants that flow into the Bay. Getting impervious surface wrong goes to the heart of the exercise.
Second, the new model does not fully take into account the best management practices (BMPs) that businesses employ to mitigate the flow of pollutants into the Bay. EPA estimates that it will take six months to correct the flaws in the new model. Flaws or no flaws, however, EPA is insisting on meeting its self-imposed deadline of December 2010. In fact, it recently entered into a settlement agreement with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation that effectively enshrines the December date and most other aspects of the Bay TMDL process in a Federal Court order.
EPA will produce estimates for nitrogen and phosphorus in July and estimates for sediment in August. In effect, Virginia will have only four months to complete its work on the TMDL (less, if you subtract the time that EPA will require to review Virginia's work before the end of the year). One way EPA has decided to make up for time wasted is to shorten the public comment period from 90 to 30 days - virtually making it impossible to have meaningful public input into one of the nation's top environmental priorities.
The issue of time notwithstanding, as long as EPA insists on using a flawed model, all the numbers on which the TMDL pollution diet (and the implementing regulatory requirements insuring that Virginia reaches those levels over time) will be flawed. EPA has two solutions for the flawed model problem. First, since the numbers are erroneous in any case, err on the side of overstating the size and scope of the problem. Virginia's pollution budget will likely be more stringent than necessary. So too, the costs and burdens imposed on Virginia business will likely be greater than truly necessary to improve the Bay.
EPA's second solution is to eventually fix the new model and produce new, valid numbers in 2011. At that time, the pollution budgets and implementation plans that were just created in 2010 will need to be revised - perhaps substantially. EPA's "do-over" approach seems to have one justification - it allows the agency to claim that it met its arbitrary December deadline. For the rest of the world that lives outside the Capitol Beltway, the idea that you deliberately do something the wrong way to meet a deadline and then turn around and fix it after the deadline is past involves a logic so bizarre to make even the characters in Alice in Wonderland blanche. |
| "Fantastic 50" Winners Honored on April 29th at Westfields Marriott
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The Virginia Chamber recently announced the companies who made the 2010 "Fantastic 50" list of the fastest-growing companies in the state.
The companies were saluted at the annual awards banquet held at Westfields Marriott in Chantilly on April 29th. Clinton Morse, a partner with LeClairRyan in Roanoke and the current Virginia Chamber Chairman, offered congratulatory remarks. Secretary of Commerce and Trade James Cheng served as the keynote speaker, providing information and advice on Virginia's current business climate from his recent travels around the state. As a business owner and past "Fantastic 50" Virginia Vanguard Award Winner, Secretary Cheng's comments focused on what these winning companies must do to stay on top and help keep Virginia the "Number One State in the Nation for Business."
A highlight of the awards banquet was the announcement of the five Virginia Vanguard Winners in the categories of Manufacturing, Retail/Wholesale, Service, and Technology, as well as the top honor for the highest overall growth rate.
2010 Vanguard winners are:
Highest Overall Growth: ITA International LLC, a Yorktown-based company that provides training, consulting, program management and staff support functions to the military, government agencies and large defense contractors;
Manufacturing: MTC Transformers in Wytheville, a provider of high-quality, precision-engineered transformers and rewind services;
Retail/Wholesale: Morooka USA-EAST in Ashland, exclusive distributor of Morooka Rubber Track Carriers for North, Central and South America;
Service: Technical and Project Engineering, LLC , headquartered in Kingstowne in Fairfax County, a professional services firm that develops innovative solutions to critical systems and high-level security challenges while focusing quality IT and management consulting; and
Technology: BOSH Global Services, a Newport News-based company that specializes in unmanned systems-related operations and technology services.
Special thanks to all the sponsors of the "Fantastic 50" program: Goodman & Company; SunTrust Bank; Virginia Business and Westfields Marriott serve as Signature Sponsors; LeClairRyan, Networking Media Sponsor; SAIC in McLean hosted the Networking Reception; Washington Gas, Program Sponsor; and In Your Ear, Multimedia Presentation Sponsor. |
| Reports, Publications & Other Resources | Occasionally we are unable to report in detail on all of the important happenings. So, we encourage you to review the reports and links below for more information on what the Chamber is doing for you.
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| Upcoming events | |
June 17
Steering Committee - Business Coalition on Workers' Compensation - Richmond
November 3-4
Board of Director's Meeting - Hot Springs
January 26, 2011
Chamber Day at the Capitol
Annual Meeting
Old Dominion Assembly
January 27
Board of Director's Meeting - Richmond |
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| MEMBER NEWS
Member of the Month
Congratulations to
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CALENDAR | |
Committee on Education - Richmond
June 2
Committee on Management Relations - Richmond
Steering Committee - Business Coalition on Workers' Compensation - Richmond
June 17 Board of Director's Meeting - Hot Springs
November 3-4 Chamber Day at the Capitol
Annual Meeting
Old Dominion Assembly January 26, 2011 Board of Director's Meeting - RichmondJanuary 27 |
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| Giving the Chamber a Stronger, More Effective VOICE! |
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