Progress Reports This section offers an update on the progress made by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority (VEDP) in FY21 relative to VEDP’s Strategic, Operational, and Marketing Plans. These plans were previously submitted in accordance with Code and other requirements. Because most elements of these plans are treated with confidentiality and are exempted from mandatory disclosure provisions (Code of Virginia §2.2-3705.7. 33.), this progress report references specific elements of the plans without revealing information that is protected by the Code for competitive purposes.
Strategic Plan The Strategic Plan for Economic Development of the Commonwealth of Virginia adopted by the VEDP Board in FY20 is a five-year plan (FY21-FY25) for which implementation began on July 1, 2020.
Key highlights of strategic plan implementation for FY21: With the support of the administration, the General Assembly, and hundreds of partners, much progress has been made implementing many of the initiatives detailed in the Strategic Plan. Following are just a few examples (not comprehensive): ■
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With state funding and support, the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program is helping make the case that Virginia is America’s Top State for Talent by positioning Virginia as a national leader in the delivery of world-class, customized talent solutions. With new state funding, VEDP has engaged national site selection consultants to provide programmatic and analytical support to provide significant investment in site development through the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program (VBRSP). With state funding and support, VEDP is in the process of expanding existing export development programs, leveraging additional federal grant dollars, and building a new program to assist Virginia companies with supply chain optimization. With state funding and support, we have started to build out the Virginia Office of Education Economics (VOEE), a new division at VEDP that will provide a unified, consistent source of analysis for policy development and implementation related to talent development, and offer resources and expertise related to education and labor market alignment. Working with a variety of in-state and national partners, VEDP launched the Local and Regional Competitiveness Initiative with over 100 local and regional participants participating in this effort to benchmark their organizational performance against peers and national best practices. Working with leading organizations across Virginia, VEDP and the Virginia Chamber foundation launched the nonprofit Team Virginia to expand awareness of Virginia’s assets for business among corporate execs and site selection consultants. In an effort to strengthen our pitch to prospects, VEDP has engaged in a rigorous effort to develop value proposition content across its target industries that will demonstrate Virginia’s value add for companies in those sectors. Leveraging federal grant funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, VEDP is working with regional partners and consultants to develop new strategies for growing key industries as the economy emerges from the pandemic. Working in collaboration with our state, regional, and local partners, we exceeded our FY21 business development goals, with VEDP-assisted projects resulting in 11,187 announced jobs and $4.5B in capital investment.
Despite the strong progress that has been made on several fronts, many initiatives detailed in the Strategic Plan have not yet been implemented. Accordingly, while substantial progress has been made with respect to all five of the following transformational goals, Virginia has not yet fully achieved them. 66
