Economic Development Value for Loudoun and the Board of Supervisors

A currently evolving initiative of the Loudoun Board of Supervisors is to explore additional, or different ways to derive value from the current Economic Development Commission. The EDC is a non-partisan, volunteer group of very experienced Loudoun business owners and leaders, representing most business sectors, who are appointed by the BOS to directly advise them (collaborating with the Department of Economic Development, or DED) on topics regarding Loudoun's business economy.

The EDC is effectively the "unfiltered, expert voice of the entire Loudoun business community" for the BOS to draw upon - when considering or analyzing topics that impact Loudoun's economic development. This voice persists across BOS election cycles, economic conditions and Loudoun's growth and diversity of its business segments. This voice is fully public and transparent, accepting of all relevant input. It's not the only voice, but others such as the Loudoun Chamber, the SBDC/MEC, and the LCVA are more focused on the needs of the membership or participants (by design), or are otherwise self-limiting in terms of constituents.

The EDC is not only the active "voice", but the "persistent steward" of Loudoun's collective business community interests, strategy and brand. (Point of note - the Loudoun business community had zero online, Internet social media, brand or collective economic development/marketing value or stewardship up until 3-4 years ago, when the EDC's Marketing and Business Retention Committee (MBRC) began providing the BOS and DED with the knowledge, strategic input and tactical direction required to make this happen.)

At the heart of the conversation is the concept of "value" - of the EDC, for the BOS. So far, the EDC's "value" has in fact not been adequately expressed or shared with the BOS or the general public, nor has the BOS clearly expressed their requests or concerns in terms of "value". How should and can the EDC's value be expressed?

There is, of course, all manner of unquantifiable but professionally-acknowledged value derived from the EDC, directly and indirectly by the BOS. Business leaders (new and established; young and old; small and large; profit, non-profit or academic) actually have a balanced forum to find ways to add value, and be recognized for it (thereby encouraging more). Professional, relevant, sage advice and perspectives that the elected BOS does not have (neither individually nor collectively), and in many cases doesn't exist within the County Government, is readily available - and offered proactively. Real-time awareness, intelligence and feedback concerning the broader context of Loudoun's economic development opportunities is provided - including regional, national and international perspectives and experience.

This world-class advice is freely given and professionally packaged, with no expectations of personal gain or influence. It's quite unlike most of the rest of Washington, where the pervasive lobbying, business development and special interest organizations feed at the trough. The Loudoun BOS and their constituents are privileged to have such an asset, if only considering the "qualitative" value it generates. Without the EDC, Loudoun's political leadership would be far busier attracting and engaging with those peddling special interest influence - and therefore far less productive or capable, particularly from a strategic perspective.

EDC value can, in fact, be quantitatively categorized and measured as well - though this hasn't yet been attempted. Simply categorizing the types of value delivered, however, completely overcomes any of the simplistic, absurdly-shortsighted assessments of "excessive costs" the BOS has put forward to challenge the EDC's value - for example that County Staff spend about 46 hours a month directly supporting the EDC. At, for example, $60/hr., this is less than $3,000 cost.

The EDC value delivered comes in two basic flavors - "benefits" and "cost savings". The list of EDC benefits is long, including increased exposure, reputation, "in-kind" services, and actual new business for Loudoun. We'll not focus on these here, but on cost savings (a broad type of value that's been generally ignored to date) - which are harder to measure in a tangible way, but of no less value. Here are some example categories, examples and rough orders of magnitude of "value" that can become more quantifiable (given access to data and analytical resources):

Direct Cost Savings - EDC committee members, in particular, provide free information, analysis and guidance to county staff and BOS members, that they would otherwise have to pay for. Value can be measured in terms of hours multiplied by market value (per role), or simply market value (or "in-kind" value) of the information product.

Indirect Cost Savings - By independently researching, analyzing and packaging information for use by the BOS and DED, the EDC saves the County costs it would otherwise have to train its staff, hours spent gaining the requisite experience and access to resources, and hours spent developing productive industry relationships.

Shared Savings - Some output and relationship-based assets of the EDC are equally applicable to other segments of County Governance and BOS responsibilities - for example, transportation-related information developed to inform business development strategies is critical input as well to the Board of Education and to the County's Public Safety and Homeland Security mission.

Direct Cost Avoidance - Through its proactive, expert, collaborative assessments, analysis, expertise identification and published output (either in writing or recorded meeting minutes), the EDC enables the BOS to ask less of county staff in a reactive mode, therefore incurring overtime additional expenses - when a new or unplanned issue arises. Call it the avoidance of "startup" costs to address new issues. It's also the avoidance of known or unplanned costs due to mistakes, errors or other mis-steps - in other, "public sector" words, this is "government risk mitigation".

Indirect or Collateral Cost Avoidance - Through the diverse activities and representation of the EDC members in economic development-related areas, potential BOS work and expense can be avoided essentially by the "proxy" labor of the EDC members. For example, delivery to the DED of interactive marketing strategies can help avoid future expense to deal with PR or communications issues the BOS finds itself addressing. Participation of EDC members in economic development-driven analysis regarding STEM-related education and workforce development, helps the BOS avoid additional costs it would otherwise expend along with the Board of Education in responding to STEM requirements. Feedback and analysis published by the EDC (or available from its members) may be critical input to address future challenges or changes to things like the Strategic Plan, the County IT Strategy (which is another whole discussion), etc. - for example possible future impact assessments of the rapid growth of Data Center facilities, that while helpful and attractive from a taxes (high) and services utilization (low) perspective, may not necessarily offer what's necessary to accommodate future local resident and business community demands.

It's important to note that "lost opportunities" (i.e. loss of access and influence in attracting and retaining new commercial revenue sources), result in direct or collateral future costs (in re-starting, or duplicating the effort) that can and should be avoided.

Very back-of-the-napkin calculations using simple hours spent by EDC members - resulting in these Value Categories, yield orders of magnitude value BOTH in terms of benefits (i.e. new commercial tax revenue), and cost savings/avoidance.

Value that can be estimated and measured in tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions (in recursive or compound value, over time). Value that comes from no other source, is utterly indispensable, and in fact demanded by the BOS electorate - whether as a direct or indirect beneficiary of the proven economic development results.

Loudoun County EDC Transitions New Leadership & New Members for 2012

This week's first meeting of 2012 for the Loudoun County Economic Development Commission featured installation of new members and transition to new leadership - from John Wood (CEO of Telos Corporation) to Shaun Kelley (Senior VP, PNC Financial Services Group).

New "Group B" Commissioners (3 year term) included Christopher Charron (CEO/Owner, Charron Construction Consulting, Inc.), Benjamin Leigh, Esq. (Partner, Atwell, Troxell & Leigh PC) and Keith Segerson (Associate VP for Economic Development & Executive Director, The Mason Enterprise Center (MEC)) .

New "Group C" Advisory Commissioners (1 year term) included Sharon Virts-Mozer (Owner and President, FCi Federal), Todd Pearson (VP of Acquisitions & Development, B.F. Saul Company), Sharon Steele, Esq. (General Counsel, Mid-Atlantic Security & Training LLC) and Ted McLaughlan (Homeland Security IT Consultant; Co-Owner and CTO, KME Internet Marketing).

One new member was appointed this week to the Rural Economic Development Commission (REDC) - Jean Brown (Bed & Breakfast Industry), Owner of The Oakland Green B&B, and member of the Historic District Review Committee among other local organizations.

Several New Year themes emerged from the meeting agenda and discussion, solidly in support of the "Loudoun is Open for Business" tagline. Scott York (Loudoun BOS Chairman, among several Loudoun Supervisors present) reiterated the focus of the new board on Loudoun's economic development priorities, among which included significant attention to Dulles Airport access from the Rt. 50/28 corridor in the Dulles South region, as well as a southern airport access route. Ken Reid (Leesburg District Supervisor) reiterated the "Live, Work, Play" tagline reflecting support for establishment of a County Arts & Cultural District to compliment and support the Leesburg Arts & Cultural District. The reported objectives and status from individual committees reflected continuing support for small business assistance, Dulles Metro to Loudoun, and continued growth of the Data Center industry segment.

A particularly interesting topic was raised - that of exploring ways in which the community of business leaders participating in the EDC could develop, support and possibly assist in developing finance strategies for Loudoun-wide economic development objectives - via a non-governmental organization construct different from that of the current EDC. One potential tool that could therefore be more appropriately, widely and successfully leveraged would be digital social media and other online assets of local businesses - this concept having been surfaced in early 2010 here in this blog.

We'll note that significant additional opportunity for online, transparent dialogue and information or idea-sharing about these topics, can be very effectively conducted via the public Loudoun Business social media group on LinkedIn (among others). This type of online dialogue works better, in our opinion, than trying to engage in discussion via blog comments. Join us there!

The next EDC meeting is the first Friday of February - all meetings are open to the public, as are sub-committee meetings...this year would be an especially good year for businesses and Loudoun residents interested in supporting the renewing economic development and growth of the County to attend and support EDC events and activities.

Loudoun Economic Development VIP Reception 2010

Last night's VIP reception at the Belmont Country Club was very well attended,well organized and overall a very successful event, bringing together the business and government leadership engaged in promoting Loudoun County's economic development. The German economic development contingent from Main-Taunus-Kreis (MTK - Loudoun's "sister county") was in attendance to help enjoy Loudoun wines, a fife-and-drum performance, a brief rain shower and Supervisor Susan Klimek-Buckley's address to the crowd and BOS/BOE and other County notables present. Buckley's remarks focused first on the successful unfreeze by Governor McDonnell of the Local Composite Index (LCI), led in part by rigorous opposition from the County government, business and education communities, that resulted in $34M restored funding for Loudoun education. We had an especially engaging discussion with VA State Senator Mark Herring regarding Loudoun Internet Marketing and Social Media, encouraging he and his staff to jump on board the kind of Internet economic development initiatives Loudoun County is rolling out, and participating more in government/citizen online social media forums like GovLoop. All-in-all, a great event!

Pictured below is Supervisor Klimek-Buckley's address

January 2010 Loudoun Department of Economic Development LoCo Motion Newsletter

Here's the newest Loudoun County Department of Economic Development Newsletter...

Inside you'll find:

- Guernsey Office Products Moves National Headquarters to Loudoun
- Digital Bridge Completes Equity Round
- Another Loudoun Acquisition for Digital Realty Trust
- Rural Economic Development Council (REDC) Gears Up for 2010 Initiatives
- Five New Commissioners Join EDC in 2010
- Pegasus Logistics Group Opts for Beaumeade
- French Client for Brainware, Inc.
- DED's Warren Howell Retires
- Russian Embassy Selects Loudoun-Grown Tree in Annual Tradition
- Loudoun Places upcoming events.

The Loudoun DED is at http://biz.loudoun.gov/

Loudoun County Marketing and Business Retention - Awash in Unrealized Opportunity

This week's Loudoun County Marketing and Business Retention Committee meeting (the MBRC is a part of the Loudoun County Department of Economic Development, or DED) was quite interesting, with many discussions revolving around the status of Loudoun's marketing efforts to attract "heads in beds" as well as new business investors.

What was missing, from our perspective as a Loudoun-based professional Internet Marketing firm, was a concrete marketing plan and progress report with measurable performance indicators and objectives, that most businesses typically use to gauge the effectiveness of their integrated online and offline marketing and communications efforts. While the Loudoun County Visitor's Association (LCVA, a non-profit association mostly funded by the DED, as "primary programmatic element of Loudoun's travel and tourism promotion") is doing a fantastic job of creating online web-based marketing material and beginning to leverage social media/Web 2.0 tools (follow @visitloudoun), there's quite literally no similar effort or investment (in our opinion) for doing the same online to promote Loudoun's non-tourism related business community.

Here's the interesting tidbits we learned:

- The MBRC has recommended that the DED fully fund the LCVA for the upcoming fiscal cycle - this is a good thing, and frankly funding should be increased - though making sure that the LCVA capabilities and programs are executed in a way that they can be integrated and reused for other DED programs, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), and the Chamber of Commerce.

- The Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce 2010 Public Policy Positions paper, regarding Economic Development, was discussed and generally received approving remarks - though we'd suggest the word "Internet" or "Online" be used once or twice. The paper does recommend twice that "measurable performance goals and metrics" should be developed and implemented, and that Loudoun leverage in its marketing the "County's strongest economic assets, including industry sectors where Loudoun possesses a clear competitive advantage". Absolutely correct.

- "Rural Tourism" initiatives should be moved to the LCVA program - this is also a good idea, as LCVA is in name a "whole county initiative".

- Loudoun's got over 4 and 1/2 years worth of vacant buildings, and it evidently costs more to provide residents with Government services than businesses - this "upside down" and otherwise bleak indicator of the economy is actually an marketing opportunity waiting to be leveraged, i.e. Loudoun's competitiveness in the DC region in terms of low-cost, accessible and environmentally-attractive places to work and recruit employees.

- One of the MBRC/DED's biggest priorities is to do a better job recruiting new businesses to the county, overcoming the persistent perception that Loudoun's incredibly difficult to do business with...what was particularly interesting about this discussion, was that despite this perception, there really are very good examples of business investment success, and very real methods and routes to successfully purchasing and operating properties in the County - these examples and information, however, are simply not marketed.

- The initial foray by LCVA into online marketing and social media is well-received and is evidently generating positive economic impact, but can be much more aggressive and infused with professional Internet Marketing and Social Media ROI tracking methodology...for example, there were "0" new subscribers to the Industry eNewsletter in September; sales numbers were significantly down this quarter because (in part) of the absence of a sales person (an online sales campaign can be much more self-propagating); there appeared to be no online paid advertising at all; overall "IT Marketing Economic Impact" was down nearly 10% since last year; and there was "no data" by which to judge economic impact of the social media activity.

- There was discussion regarding the many events recently held or being planned, including a "Teacher's Internship Project", a "Vendor Opportunity Fair", the "Breakfast of Leaders", etc...but these events simply aren't marketing or published effectively using available online tools and outlets (just try to find them using Google; one meeting attendee remarked that the Local and Regional Media outlets simply don't provide as much coverage of Loudoun/DED-related news as they should).

- There was much other discussion about "print-based" marketing and signage associated with existing or planned rest stops (to be re-opened, according to our new Governor!), visitor's centers and other community centers - all good things, but with low ROI compared to online methods.

In all, we'd classify the road ahead for the DED and MBRC as "awash with overwhelming and real opportunities for professionally-managed success, use of Internet New Media, and immediate tactical collaboration with the local business and technology community".