Collaborative Report for Triangle Starts Grand Tour

By Desiree Parker Thursday, October 14, 2010

A new task force recently completed a study on economic diversification in the Historic Triangle and the group shared its findings to two receptive county boards Tuesday evening.

To gear up for the Triangle’s regional master plan set to get underway in 2012, the Historic Triangle Collaborative (a group of tourism industry representatives and local government heads) set up the task force on economic diversification in fall 2009. The group is led by Jim Golden, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at William and Mary and former chairman at the Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance. Other members represent Colonial Williamsburg, Kingsmill, the Alliance, the two colleges in the Triangle and representatives from the three jurisdictions’ economic development divisions.

Recently retired James City County Administrator Sandy Wanner presented the report to York County supervisors at their Tuesday work session; Golden addressed Wanner's former employers to the north.

“We need to take a new look at our regional economy,” the report states. “While understanding that the three jurisdictions will always have some competing objectives, we need to explore ways in which a regional perspective might open new opportunities.

“We need a realistic assessment of our region’s economic potential. We seek mutually beneficial strategies that can be used collaboratively to augment the individual efforts of the three jurisdictions. We want to achieve a more balanced economy that can exploit new opportunities, while simultaneously strengthening and diversifying the tourism sector.”

While miles apart physically, Golden and Wanner brought both boards a similar message. The study's central findings were that there is significant collaboration in the Triangle already; the area lacks a business brand; transportation is still a major challenge; diversification is possible through smaller companies, which should be supported by the area; developable land for big projects is limited and requires coordination and collaboration; the increasing numbers of entrepreneurs is an area of potential strength; and the leveraging of institutions like William and Mary can be an asset to diversification.

Read the full report here, and read a previous WYDaily story summarizing the report here.

Golden told JCC supervisors that he hoped the report would begin discussions on the subject, and possibly lead to some actions on the part of the county in the future. Wanner's message was similar, but stressed making the most of "linkages" that already exist between local government, businesses, the tourism economic drivers and the bright minds that work at every level.

The JCC supervisors decided to discuss the findings at an upcoming work session. The prospect of revenue sharing across localities suggested in the report launched some discussion by the board on whether this would be a good idea.

Supervisor John McGlennon cautioned that revenue sharing could have negative effects on generating revenue for the county, and that it would be important to discuss the fiscal implications first, especially since the county was the most likely locality in the Triangle for future large developments.

Chairman Jim Kennedy said he shared McGlennon’s concerns but that he thought in general revenue sharing could have potential, especially after looking at New Town and High Street, which could have complemented one another instead of competing for business.

“Fifty percent of something is better than one hundred percent of nothing,” he quipped.

Over in York County, supervisors briefly discussed the potential for a revenue-sharing project, with Wanner noting the political realities that could rule such decisions. Supervisor Sheila Noll reminded the board of similar discussions among the much larger Hampton Roads group of localities. "It might be workable at a smaller level," she said of the Collaborative's report.

Kennedy also had concerns about the idea of a regional visitor center.

The study suggested that Colonial Williamsburg’s regional visitor center (which is supposed to become more regionally inclusive soon) should be supported by the area, but it made no mention of the regional visitor center the Williamsburg Area Hotel Motel Association recently opened, which has not gotten the support of many big tourism players in the area (though Golden was quick to point out that there could certainly be more than one such center supported in the Triangle).

Kennedy said he was concerned that the WHMA center leaders had jumped over the local level to the state level to get support for their visitor center, but that he hopes a regional visitor center would be sure every business was represented.

Many supervisors also mentioned their support of the idea of promoting more sports-event marketing to draw tourists to the area. JCC Supervisor Mary Jones pointed out that she runs a sports-related business and notices a boost in sales when big sports events are in the area. Parents spend lots of time and money on traveling with their kids for such events, she noted.

Kennedy agreed that sports events “puts lots of heads in beds” in local lodging facilities.

Wanner also promoted the recent effort by the Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance to increase sports-related marketing. York's fields and facilities, he said, were already the result of a partnership with Newport News that could be expanded even more.

How the Triangle is promoted - and what it might be called - were issues Wanner said had to be decided by a collaborative approach that focused on improving the "tone of our tourism discourse."

For years the area's been known as "Williamsburg," although the city makes up less than a tenth of the population. Figuring out the brand and how to best attract high-quality businesses, residents and visitors should all be part of the discussion, Wanner said, with the collective goals in mind.

"Politics is never easy," Wanner said, "but it is the art of compromise. I think we have opportunities there."