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Director outlines strategic plan priorities; Innovation Park master plan work underway
Summary
The authority’s director reported a strategic realignment focused on business attraction, retention and marketing, and said the city has engaged VHB to produce a master plan for expansion of Innovation Park to attract light manufacturing and advanced‑sector firms.
Christian Crane, the authority’s director, updated the board on strategic priorities for economic development, emphasizing three pillars: business attraction, retention/expansion and marketing/communications. Crane said staff are identifying top target companies within key market sectors and noted a current business‑retention effort surveying local firms about the effect of recently enacted tariffs.
Crane said the business‑retention team has identified the top 300 companies in Virginia Beach and that three staff members are responsible for ongoing outreach. He also said the authority has engaged engineering firm VHB to develop a master plan for expansion of Innovation Park, which he said is running low on ready sites; that master plan will be shared with the planning commission, city council and the community and could be incorporated into the comprehensive plan update.
Why it matters: the strategic realignment and Innovation Park planning aim to make the city more competitive in sectors such as defense, advanced manufacturing, life sciences and maritime logistics, Crane said.
