Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Governance Strategy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Go Virginia's new executive committee sets course for a strategic retreat and 10-year retrospective
Summary
At its inaugural executive committee meeting, Go Virginia's state board discussed a roadmap for the next decade, asking staff for a data-driven retrospective, proposing a strategic plan and flagging AI, energy and defense as priority clusters; no votes were taken and no public comments were received.
The Go Virginia state board's newly convened executive committee opened its inaugural meeting by outlining the body's role in guiding strategy and preparing for an upcoming retreat to shape priorities for the next decade.
The chair called the session to order and conducted roll call, confirming attendance and that no written public comments had been submitted. The chair said the committee should meet regularly to provide "directional awareness" for the board and to consider a compact strategic plan and work plan that would let members say, "what do we want to be able to say next year at this time?" Staff agreed they could assemble a dashboard, fact sheet and impact materials by September to support that work.
Members emphasized that a review of Go Virginia's first 10 years should highlight major wins and lessons learned to guide a new strategic chapter. "We've got the data," a staff representative said, pledging to produce a retrospective analysis and impact statement. The staff also reported that, excluding items approved at the meeting, Go Virginia has supported 369 projects totaling about $154 million in awards.
Discussion focused on how to present that work to policymakers and the public. Board members proposed a concise one-page summary of the program's biggest wins for circulation to the General Assembly and other stakeholders so the program's results are more readily understood. Several participants urged balancing claims of success with candid analysis of initiatives that fell short to make the strategic plan actionable.
Committee members identified industry clusters to emphasize going forward. AI and energy were singled out as top issues from last year's retreat; members suggested breakout sessions or expert panels at the retreat to develop concrete next steps. Defense and data-center related opportunities were also discussed as potential cluster priorities.
A board member referenced several large private investments connected to regional outcomes, citing figures of roughly $5 billion, $3 billion and $4 billion for three projects (a combined total of about $12 billion) as examples the committee could use to illustrate program impact. The committee agreed these kinds of outcomes are worth highlighting in external messaging.
Members also discussed strengthening ties between state board members and regional councils. Staff highlighted recent self-assessments showing regional council members value informal interaction with the state board, and the committee agreed to plan structured and unstructured opportunities for that engagement at the retreat.
On logistics, members said in-person committee meetings on board meeting days could work and agreed to hold a virtual executive meeting a few weeks before the June board packet deadline to prepare materials. The committee adjourned after confirming plans to identify a retreat venue (a community college in Chester was noted as a tentative option) and to reconfirm timing after avoiding a date immediately following Labor Day.
No formal motions or votes were recorded during the meeting. Staff committed to preparing: (1) a dashboard and fact sheet summarizing 10 years of activity; (2) a short one-page "wins" summary for external audiences; and (3) options for retreat structure that would include breakout sessions and opportunities for state-regional engagement.
The executive committee's next steps are evidence-gathering, drafting the strategic-retreat agenda and polling members on timing for a preparatory virtual session.
