SUMMIT WORKSHOP

MAIN STREET AMERICA: Economic Development Lessons Learned and the Role of the Professional Manager

Sustained Economic Vitality in Any Community: What Works and What Doesn’t

Dr. Gerald L. Gordon, president and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, to lead Regional Summit Workshop.

The FCEDA offers site location and business development assistance, and connections with county and state government agencies, to help companies locate and expand in Fairfax County. In addition to its headquarters in Tyson’s Corner, Fairfax County’s largest business district, the FCEDA maintains marketing offices in six important global business centers: Bangalore, London, Los Angeles, Munich, Seoul and Tel Aviv.

Using Dr. Gordon’s book, “Lessons from Reinventing Local and Regional Economies”, he will share the most effective strategies about how to reinvent local and regional economies in the wake of long-term economic decline and more recent global economic trends. He will provide the tools to develop a proactive strategy that positions your community for surviving and thriving regardless of external stresses and adverse economic conditions that may be out of your control:

• Guidance on helping communities stave off economic difficulties before they occur
• Discuss the experiences of cities and regions—both positive and negative—so that other cities and regions can apply the lessons learned
• Show case studies that demonstrate to cities that they can do what their peers have accomplished
• Presents interviews from nearly seventy elected officials, university presidents, chamber executives, economic development professionals, and other community leaders
• Examine why some communities are better able to withstand national and global economic problems and trends

Some things to consider:

• When confronted with some of these issues themselves, what have they tried in order to address them? What has worked? What has not?
• What is economic futures of small towns versus large and cities versus suburbs versus exurbs. Is it survival of the fittest or will there still be a place for all types of communities? How does this change as foreign economic competition increases?

History:

The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) is an independent authority in Fairfax County, Virginia, created under Virginia state law in 1964 and funded by Fairfax County government. The FCEDA exists to promote investment and business growth in Fairfax County in order to expand the commercial tax base. The FCEDA does this by managing marketing programs that encourage businesses to expand or relocate to the county. It is the largest non-state economic development authority in the nation.

The Virginia General Assembly acted to create the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority Acting on concerns about population increases and funding of county services, the Board of Supervisors in the late 1970s tasked the FCEDA with its mission to create a business retention and attraction campaign that formed the basis of the EDA’s current programs and purpose. During Dr. Gordon’s tenure, the combined impact of pro-growth policies and the attraction and retention campaign, that included robust global adverting efforts would establish Fairfax County as a “brand” unto itself and would prompt Time magazine columnist Justin Fox in 2007 to call Fairfax County "one of the great economic success stories of our time.

In 2008 the Washington, D.C.-based International Economic Development Council (IEDC), the largest professional association of economic development practitioners in the world, recognized FCEDA with its 2008 Excellence in Economic Development Award for the FCEDA-produced “Power of Ideas” advertising campaign. The FCEDA received honorable mentions in two other IEDC awards categories in 2008: "Technology-Based Economic Development Program" category for localities with more than 200,000 residents and the "Special Event" category for localities with more than 200,000 residents, for the 2007 National Conference on the Creative Economy.

During Dr. Gordon’s Tenure:

• February, 2009 Hilton Hotels announced it would move its corporate headquarters from Beverly Hills to Fairfax County, Virginia.
• June 18, 2009, the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) hosted “The New Urban Economic Model: The Transformation of Fairfax County" conference to examine growth in the county (http://www.transformingfairfax.org).
• April 2010, FCEDA launched a new advertising campaign designed to promote the county’s rich quality of life.
• The 30-second TV commercial, called “Statistics,” uses brightly animated statistical information on the county – presented through pie charts and other familiar visuals from business presentations – and morphs those shapes into real-life representations of various quality-of-life elements of Fairfax County. The spot ran through the end of June on cable outlets in four markets – Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. – primarily on news and business channels. The “Statistics” campaign also includes print, online and mobile advertising (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHL1hfslUVQ).
• July 2010, Northrop Grumman announced that it would relocate its corporate headquarters from Los Angeles to a site in the Falls Church area of Fairfax County.
• August 2010, the Southern Economic Development Council (SEDC) announced that Fairfax County won a 2010 Community Economic Development Award in recognition of its success in business attraction.
• December 2010, FCEDA Gordon was named 2010 Virginia Business Person of the Year by Virginia Business magazine, which cited his role in helping attract major business headquarters to Fairfax, County as a key factor in their decision. Also in December, the FCEDA was cited as the top economic development project in the state when the Virginia Chamber of Commerce awarded the authority its Virginia Torchbearer award.
• In 2011, Fairfax County Economic Development Authority worked with 159 companies and organizations adding more than 9,000 jobs to the local economy.
• November 2011, Bechtel, one of the world's largest engineering, construction and projects management companies, announced that it would relocate its Global Operations headquarters to the Reston area of Fairfax County, creating 625 new jobs.
• January 9, 2012, Acentia, a premier provider of technology and management solutions to the federal government and commercial markets, will invest $3.1 million as it moves its headquarters to Fairfax County from Montgomery County, Md. The move creates 60 new jobs in Fairfax County.

Come ready for a lively discussion of the issues and opportunities that every local government grapples with and learn how to reinvent local economy.

The second segment will be led by ICMA Executive Director Bob O’Neill and Director of Leadership Development, Felicia Logan and will offer opportunity to explore the role of the professional manager and how the current trends offer leadership challenges and opportunities.

[Addresses Practice Groups 6: Initiative, Risk Taking, Vision, Creativity, and Innovation—components of Strategic Planning]

*Special ICMA University Offering: Mid Career Managers Institute

As part of the Regional Summits, an ICMA Mid Career Managers Institute, (MCM), focus group will convene during which you will get a taste of our Leadership Development Programs and participate in a focused conversation to create a program to meet the specific needs of mid career managers. If you hold a leadership position in your organization, military, public/private sector, academies; and are a manager/assistant not ready to be credentialed but looking for your next challenge; and are intrigued by the possibilities, feel a desire for a focused development program and identify yourself as a mid career professional come help ICMA build a program that you will be proud to be part of—and one that will take you and your organization to the next level.  This event requires pre-registration. Click here to register for the MCM event in your region. The registration deadine is the same registration deadline as the Summit you are attending. Visit icma.org/MCM for more information about the Mid Career Managers Institute. Register early to reserve your seat. Space is limited to 15 seats per location.