Alexandria prepares May 8 Economic Summit; consultants, panels and youth outreach included

City staff and consultants on the Alexandria Economic Development team presented the agenda and outreach status for a public Economic Summit scheduled for May 8, 2025, saying the event will feed a strategic framework and an action plan for council review.

Stephanie Landrum, director of economic development, said consultant TIP Strategies is compiling a data-driven strategic framework and has conducted roundtables and one-on-one interviews with more than 75 stakeholders. A pre-summit survey closed with 376 respondents; more than 300 people had registered for the May 8 summit at the time of the meeting.

The summit agenda will include a keynote by architect and author Kevin Kelly (Irreplaceable), consultant findings, topical panels (workforce, real estate and land use, entrepreneurship and equity) and facilitated breakout sessions for public input. Staff said the goal is a post-summit strategic framework and measurable action plan for council consideration.

Landrum emphasized broad outreach and youth engagement: consultants interviewed the superintendent and reached student groups, and staff publicized the summit through the school newspaper and youth-engagement networks. Councilmembers asked staff to ensure alternative ways for people who cannot attend from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. to participate and to make recordings available; staff confirmed the summit will be professionally recorded.

Councilmembers and consultants framed the summit as a once-in-a-decade planning convening intended to align economic development goals, generate implementable actions and identify metrics the city can monitor over time.