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byline: Bernie Niemeier

Springtime, tea leaves, less barking

Springtime meetings for Virginia Business always involve a heavy dose of crisscrossing the commonwealth.  Despite the lingering cool days in the earlier part of the season, followed by the onslaught of heavy pollen showers, this year has been pretty typical.

During April and May, we traveled extensively on Virginia’s interstates and byways to attend meetings in Portsmouth, Norfolk, Williamsburg, Chantilly, Blacksburg, Lexington, Norfolk (again), Suffolk, Norfolk (again!), Harrisonburg, Wise, St. Paul, Amherst and Roanoke.

It seems like every organization in the state is trying to get in a few final meetings before the heat of summer and the vacation season kick in.  The State of the City series sponsored by the Hampton Roads Chamber figures prominently in this schedule with five luncheons featuring the mayors of Chesapeake, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth and Suffolk.

Ranging from hotel ballrooms to convention centers, most if not all of these events are sold out.  Taken together, the series is an annual tour de force of economic development happenings and milestones for Hampton Roads. They bring together business and local government leaders in a collective display of civic pride.  Other regions should take note of this example.

Other spring meetings and events involved an alphabet soup of tech councils and colleges, the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, the Virginia Society of Association Executives (VSAE), Lead Virginia, University-Based Economic Developers (UBED), the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges (VFIC), the Virginia Maritime Association (VMA), as well as client and customer events for the magazine itself.  Sometimes it seems hard to stop and catch your breath, but that’s springtime for Virginia Business.

It’s worth noting that our state is a wonderful place for this kind of travel.  Some familiar venues such as the Westfields Marriott hotel in Chantilly or the Hotel Roanoke remain reliably on point with food and service.   Recent additions like The Main in Norfolk and Hotel Madison in Harrisonburg provide excellent new settings for large meetings.  Heck, even tiny St. Paul now boasts a boutique hotel, the Western Front (go there!).

Business dining offers excellent “old reliables” in all parts of the state; try Todd Jurich’s Bistro in Norfolk or the Blue Apron in Salem.  On the new end of the spectrum, there’s Milton’s at the Western Front (go there!).

Some years it’s more of a challenge than others to read the tea leaves of our business environment in Virginia.  This year there is a sense of quiet optimism as the economy seems to be gaining momentum.  The new hotel projects just mentioned are one sign. Others include higher container traffic at the Port of Virginia and a bigger federal defense budget. It is good to be out from under the shadow of sequestration, at least for now.

State politics also seem to be quietly changing.  The combination of upsets in last November’s legislative elections and a change of temperament (if not policy) in the Executive Mansion seem to have at least slightly reduced partisanship.  One might describe it as a change from hyper-partisan to just plain old partisan.  In any event, it does seem like the old dogs aren’t barking quite as loudly.

Maybe we’ve gone from cautious optimism to quiet optimism.  If that’s the change we have for 2018, let’s go with it.  See you on the road!

Journalism matters

On Friday, April 6, the editorial page editor of The Denver Post published a column on the newspaper’s website titled “News Matters.”  The column was harshly critical of the Post’s owners for yet another round of staff cuts at the 125-year-old, Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper.

The sub-headline read, “Colo. should demand the newspaper it deserves.”  Among other criticisms, the column went so far as to describe the newspaper’s New York-based hedge-fund owners as “vulture capitalists.” Eight additional opinion columns, many from former staffers, were a part of the complete online package.

In any other industry, such actions would be treated as an insubordinate takeover of company assets from the factory floor.  For the Post, its publishing peers received this as a highly laudable act of courage.  At Virginia Business, we support that opinion.

While this magazine is intrinsically business friendly and sympathetic to management, we agree that no publishing enterprise can or should be run with profit as the only goal.  In fact, no business in any industry can sustain itself with only profit in mind.  Employees matter, customers matter, quality matters, and, in this case, journalism matters.  When such matters go untended, profit becomes impossible.

Interestingly, after local Post management consulted with executives at Alden Global Capital, the paper’s hedge-fund owner, the editorial page editor responsible was not relieved of his duties.  The digital columns also ran in that Sunday’s print edition of the Denver Post.  Credit the owners for getting that call right.

It’s worth giving some context here.  Just a decade ago, when Denver had two dailies managed under a joint operating agreement, there were approximately 450 journalists serving readers.  The other paper, the Rocky Mountain News, became defunct in 2009.

During the next few years, the Post saw its former owner, the newspaper chain MediaNews, go bankrupt.  The Post then was sold to Alden, who purchased several other large-market newspapers in the depth of the Great Recession. Collectively, the newspaper group  now does business under the name Digital First Media.

The 30 positions axed in this latest round of cuts will take out nearly one-third of the Post’s remaining 100 newsroom employees, leaving about 60 daily newspaper journalists to cover the 21st largest metro area in the U.S. 

In another cost-cutting move, the paper has decamped from its longtime downtown Denver headquarters, moving all employees to its suburban printing plant six miles from the central business district.

Colorado is currently the second-fastest growing state in the U.S., driven largely by growth in the Denver metro area.  When these facts are taken all together, it’s appropriate and reasonable to think in terms of what kind of newspaper Denver deserves.

Some might ask why this should matter.  It matters to our democracy, which depends on informed citizens.  There is a reason why the First Amendment is first.  In this age of false equivalence, fake news does not equal real news.

Some might think this is all a result of readership declines — not true.  People consume more information today than at any time in history.  Like the Post, nearly all newspapers have a robust online presence in addition to print.

What may be less apparent is that advertising fragmentation has become even greater than audience fragmentation.  The longstanding business model for media relies on support from paid advertising.

Digital advertising price points don’t cover the cost of local newsgathering.  In our technology-obsessed world, it’s become far too common to see low advertising budgets chasing low-cost solutions, inevitably delivering subpar results.

Click-ability is not the same as accountability.  Digital “likes” add up, but to what?  To their advertisers, new media platforms too often have said, “trust me,” while delivering bots instead of real consumers.

Thomas Jefferson’s proviso, “A democratic society depends on an informed and educated citizenry,” relies largely on freedom of the press.  Let’s hope in Denver and elsewhere that such high ideals and the truth espoused by quality journalism shall remain.

Maritime Guide expands its reach statewide

Welcome to the 2018 Virginia Maritime Guide! Formerly known as the Hampton Roads Maritime & International Trade Guide, this year’s name change recognizes the important role maritime commerce, the logistics industry and international trade play not just in Hampton Roads but across the entire Commonwealth of Virginia. 

In addition to the title change, we’ve significantly increased the distribution of this year’s guide. It now reaches subscribers of Virginia Business magazine across the entire state.  Simply put, the economic benefits of the maritime community go far beyond Hampton Roads, reaching all parts of Virginia, even across our nation.

The content of this year’s guide has expanded to include columns from local experts on cybersecurity, international contracts and ocean shipping.  Other new stories include a look at the commercial cargo coming through the commonwealth’s major airports and a feature on the digital transformation of the shipbuilding industry. We also present the findings of a study by CBRE Consulting documenting Virginia’s opportunities and advantages to grow future maritime-related development.

The successful growth of the Port of Virginia is inextricably tied to the growth of the entire commonwealth.  We invite you to use the 2018 Virginia Maritime Guide to learn more about Virginia’s maritime industries. It is a valuable resource on major companies providing services to the port community.
To compile this guide, we worked closely with the Virginia Maritime Association and the Port of Virginia. We thank them for their assistance.

Cover story: Digging Deeper

Report highlights opportunities, challenges: CBRE looks at how Virginia can grow economic development

Revitalization realized: New warehousing projects reflect Richmond Marine Terminal's growth

Semi-automated cranes: Cargo-handling purchase makes impact for Va. companies

From delivery drones to container ships, why building cybersecurity into the supply chain is imperative: Commentary from Sera-Brynn LLC

Port joins program for import of fresh fruit

2018 Outlook: Fair winds for ocean freight with trouble on the final mile: Commentary from CV International

Preparing for the future of shipbuilding: New initiative aims to cultivate workers' digital skills

A question of risk: FMC investigates the application of detention and demurrage fees

Spoiler alert: choice of law provisions matter: Commentary from Vandeventer Black

Finding new markets: Exporting creates new opporutnities for Virginia businesses

The road ahead: Construction projects aim to provide a smooth ride through the Old Dominion.

Big changes for motor carriers at port terminals

Rail: A key to the port's competitiveness 

Air cargo: A glimpse into the goods moving through Virginia's airports

Maritime law firms

Foreign-trade zones help manufacturers compete

Virginia plays host to international businesses

 

 

 

Changes loom as boomers near the exits

The phrase “the pig in the python” is sometimes used to describe the baby-boom generation.  Being a boomer myself, I’ve never been particularly enamored with that not-so-quaint description, but it is accurate.  For decades, boomers essentially have dominated the world economy, the arts, fashion, pop culture, music, politics, you name it.

Then there’s “jumped the shark,” a phrase implying that something has passed its point of peak popularity, quickly becoming passé.

Taken together, one could say that “the pig in the python has jumped the shark.”  What a menagerie.

As aging boomers begin to retire, we are seeing  effects that are more bang than whimper.  Think about health care. There’s a reason it’s dominating our economy — older folks need more care. 

Then there’s the workforce. People are reaching retirement age faster than they can be replaced. Think about Social Security.  Are we nearing a time when there will be more retirees than workers? Demographic studies show that, in the U.S. alone, 10,000 baby boomers have been turning 65 every day since 2011, a trend that will continue through 2030.

The problem facing employers isn’t just replacing boomer workers.  It’s replacing their skills and knowledge.  Maybe it’s time for companies to include a “boomer-replacement” section in their disaster recovery plans.  This is no joke.  Many organizations are working hard to figure out how to replace their boomers.  If you aren’t doing this yet, maybe you should.

It’s true that some boomers are working longer and retiring later.  One reason for this is that being part of such a large group — the pig in the python —  boomers still see a lot of their contemporaries in the workplace. They don’t feel out of place. 

A second reason for later retirements may be the widespread elimination of pension plans as well as the recession-wrecked values of 401(k) plans.  Financially, many boomers feel the need to work longer.  This situation gives companies a little longer runway to replace boomers, but it does not eliminate the problem.

Technology may provide some help.  With self-driving cars soon replacing Uber drivers (see Page 26) and a host of other job-replacing technologies on the horizon, fewer workers may be needed in the future.

From a theoretical standpoint, it’s a bit unsettling to think about the long-term effects of this devaluation of labor and how a jobless or “job-lite” economy might work. But there is no question that technology is replacing labor.

What about the upside?  Thinking back to the days of my youth, it’s easy to recall that when I went to an event, say a concert at Dogwood Dell in Richmond’s Byrd Park, everyone there was my age.  Today, if I go to a concert at the same venue, it’s likely that most people are still about my age.  The point is that boomers have been surrounded by people like themselves their whole lives.

A boomer side-effect has been less experience with diversity.  Not just diversity of age, but diversity of opinion, gender, race, culture, ethnicity and politics.

Being so numerous, boomers are more inclined to think that majority rule is all that matters.  This is a big part of what characterizes the contemporary political landscape.  We are seeing less appreciation of minority rights and dissenting opinions, less emphasis on consensus-building skills and overreliance on majority power as the solution to every problem.  Perhaps this should come as no surprise.  Most politicians are aging boomers who are nearing retirement and, in some cases, irrelevance.  Recent election results have pointed toward the latter.

In the workplace, diversity, inclusion and collaborative thinking increasingly have proved to be important ways to find new solutions.  Interestingly, the post-boomer generations are turning out to be better and more comfortable with collaborative thinking.  This is a good thing.  Even for boomers, the future may be brighter than we think.

Opinion: There’s no second-place prize in economic development

Back in 1992, the iconic and irascible political strategist James Carville coined the phrase, “The economy, stupid.”  This was his rallying cry in keeping Bill Clinton’s campaign workers on message during his successful run against President George H.W. Bush. The phrase reminded Clinton’s followers that the country was in recession and people were hurting. Remembered today in a slight variation — “It’s the economy stupid” — there has probably never been a more effective political message.

Regardless of party, or even the state of the economy, candidates have run on various versions of Carville’s phrase ever since.  In 2009, Virginia candidate Bob McDonnell bested Creigh Deeds by 17 points in the race for governor with the slogan, “Bob’s for Jobs.”

More recently in last year’s governor’s race, Republican Ed Gillespie spun the message of a state in need of economic improvement in his ill-fated campaign against Democrat Ralph Northam.  In fact, both candidates ran on their own vision of economic opportunity.  Apparently for voters, Northam came across as a bit more believable.

If jobs and the economy are so important, why doesn’t economic development get a little more respect?  Here’s what I mean:

Virginia’s General Assembly spends appreciably more time worrying about who controls  economic development purse strings than it does on the money that goes into that purse.  Are we really doing what’s needed to win job-creating projects that will drive our economy forward?

Take, for example, the Governor’s Opportunity Fund.  The name of this discretionary incentive pool was fine when one party controlled both the governor’s office and the General Assembly, but its name just wouldn’t do when a new party moved into the Executive Mansion.  It’s now called the Commonwealth Opportunity Fund (COF) — same fund, different name.

Regardless of what it is called; the COF is not a simple process.  The statute controlling it runs almost 3,000 words — none having to do with whether adequate funds will be available in any given biennial budget cycle.

In recent years, the COF has been set in the range of $20 million; that’s less than a tenth of what other states frequently will put into a single major manufacturing deal.  Who’s for jobs?

In January, Alabama won a 4,000-job Toyota-Mazda manufacturing plant with an incentive package of $379 million in tax abatements and investment rebates as well as the construction of a worker training facility.  Who’s for jobs?  Alabama, that’s for sure.

Yes, things can go wrong.  Lindenburg in Appomattox and Tranlin (now known as Vastly) in Chesterfield are two examples that come to mind.  That’s why clawback provisions in such deals are important and should be enforced.  On the other hand, only about $6.4 million was at risk in these two deals,  some of which may yet be recovered.  Put through the amplified rhetoric of a political campaign, that may sound like a big number to some.  But keep in mind that we’re talking about a total state budget that exceeds $100 billion; $6.4 million is little more than a rounding error.  The issue is one of spending priorities. Is economic development really among them?

Furthermore, it’s not like private industry never overpays on acquisitions.   In fact, studies show that companies overvalue deals nearly 100 percent of the time.  These things happen; call them growing pains.

Giving economic development its due respect isn’t just a problem for the legislature.  The media (if I don’t say so myself) seem to have a hard time understanding it, too.  Take the recent kerfuffle over the details on three Virginia’s localities’ bids on Amazon‘s second headquarters project.

Freedom of Information requests were denied by agencies on the basis of protecting competitive bidding positions.  Fingers flew on keyboards to craft editorials decrying the lack of transparency.  Teeth were gnashed; hands were wrung.  The pejorative phrase “corporate welfare” was bandied about newsrooms as if something sinister was being hidden.

Really?  Have any of these editors really been in a competitive bidding process?  Most likely only from a distance when someone else was buying their employer’s newspaper.  Maybe there’s an ax to grind.  Virginia cannot win these projects if we simply allow other states with deeper economic development pockets to first see our hand and then raise the ante.

Marketing is another issue.  Other states routinely launch advertising campaigns at a cost in the range of $10 million to $20 million.  New York spent $207 million during a recent period for economic development and tourism ads.  Virginia isn’t on the same playing field as these competitors.  If you want to be the best state for business, you’ve got to play like the best.

Yes, it’s the economy.  Jobs drive our economy.  There’s no second-place prize in economic development.

From ‘Mad Men’ to #MeToo

In July 2007, just over a decade ago, though it doesn’t seem that long, the AMC series “Mad Men” premiered on cable television.

Created by Matthew Weiner, the series covered the Madison Avenue advertising culture of the 1950s and 1960s.  The title sequence featured a man falling past skyscraper reflections of period advertising images.

For a guy like me, this was irresistible.  Advertising was cool again!  Not just the digital stuff, but real advertising — the kind that built our biggest brands.  Bowties reappeared — and not just in Richmond!  Gray fedoras began showing up on the heads of businessmen everywhere.

Lurking beneath the glory of the protagonist’s white maleness, the plot explored a darker theme — the plight of women at work.

Long before terms like the “glass ceiling” were coined, career success was limited by predictable rules of gender, race and sexual preference.

During the past few months, this hierarchy may possibly have met a deservedly  infamous end with revelations of sexual harassment in multiple industries — high tech, entertainment, politics, media and advertising. Few, if any, have been left untouched.

Coming out of the shadows, the social media hashtag #MeToo has burned like a torch.  Secrets no longer kept, settlements disregarded, inconvenient truths exposed, and names named.

For business, this isn’t just about what’s legal. It’s about protecting the goodwill and reputation of the company.  Due process is largely the realm of the legal system.  Sometimes, companies and the CEOs just need to part ways for the good of the organization.  This has happened quite a bit lately.

What if “Mad Men” were on television today?  That’d be a House of Cards (Kevin Spacey pun intended).  Much like the falling man in the show’s opening credits, outdated views of gender roles in the workplace are falling from grace.

Much has changed.  On the political front, Republicans and Democrats alike have proven so dysfunctional that we now have a self-proclaimed “very stable genius” in the White House.

In Virginia, Republicans have lost all three statewide offices for a second four-year cycle.  Despite heavily gerrymandered districts, the GOP also very nearly lost a 17-year lock on a majority in the House of Delegates.

It’s often said that business and politics don’t mix, and that remains pretty good advice.  But quite unexpectedly, being a Democrat is now a thing — even in business.

Heretofore, businesspeople generally were assumed to be Republicans.  That’s pretty one-note and patently unfair, but it’s been the reality.  Businesspeople who are perhaps fiscally conservative but socially liberal have largely just kept quiet.

Today, that shoe is on the other foot.  Republicans are being rebranded in a way that might just not be good for business.  It’s kind of hard to distance yourself from the Trump effect when your party put him in office.  Democrats, on the other hand, are for the first time in a long time finding themselves socially acceptable, even in business circles.

Not too long ago an acquaintance lamented in casual conversation, “Sometimes, I just wonder what this world’s coming to?  Will my two young sons have the same opportunities that I’ve had?”  He had a point, but one should also ask, “What if your sons were daughters?  What if they were black?”

The madness of “Mad Men,”  both real and rhetorical, is perhaps best captured by a quote from Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas in the 1987 film “Wall Street,” “Greed — for lack of a better word — is good.”

Until the #MeToo movement, a counter narrative to greed is good went largely unrecognized.  Thinking back, you might recall the opening line of “Howl,” Allen Ginsberg’s 1956 poem, “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness.”  Substitute corporation for generation and unfairness for madness, and you have the bitter lament of far too many workers.  Today, corporations are being destroyed by unfairness.  More than just being marginalized in terms of opportunity, many employees have watched their companies fail at goodness, fail at inclusion and fail to adequately use the skills of many in their own ranks.

There’s an inclusiveness in the #MeToo movement that goes beyond just acknowledging victimization; #MeToo also means,  “I can be CEO, too.”

Welcome to February’s Virginia Business.  This is our eighth annual Best Places to Work in Virginia issue.  Enjoy!

Welcome to 2018 — print remains strong

Welcome to 2018!  For business, does the New Year feel any different?  If not, maybe it should.  Think about it, the nation is nearly a decade past the end of the subprime-mortgage crisis and the Great Recession.  Corporate profits and the stock market are at or near all-time highs, and Dee Cee has promised lower taxes on business profits.  In Virginia, unemployment is at pre-recession levels. 

Are you feeling good about business, maybe euphoric?  If not, it’s time to take a step back and recalibrate.  Sometimes after things are down so long, it’s hard to realize they really are better.

Coming out of the deepest recession since the Great Depression, we’ve had a decade-long recovery.  A whole generation of business leadership largely has retired or otherwise been replaced by a new brand of executive.  In almost every sector, with the possible exception of high tech, this new generation of leadership earned their stripes through cost reduction, downsizing, merging and consolidating — not on business growth.

In high-tech, top-line growth was there, but bottom-line profits remained elusive.  Success was more defined by continuously attracting public or private capital than by successfully creating net income.

One consequence of this new generation of leadership is C-suite jobs are increasingly dominated by individuals with cost-cutting backgrounds.  It’s unfortunately rare for sales or marketing executives to have a run at being the CEO.  Leadership with business growth experience is essential, but it’s currently in short supply.

The criticisms of a jobless recovery and wage stagnation do bear some truth.  Unemployment is lower, but the number of discouraged workers absent in the denominator of unemployment numbers is higher.  On the wage front, manufacturing jobs have been replaced by lower-paying service-sector jobs.  This is our new economy.  No one ever said we’d get the old one back again.

That’s the macro-economic outlook.  What’s the view closer to home?

For me, that’s Virginia Business magazine.  2017 was a pretty good year.  Higher ad page counts are great to see.  We’ve had to smartly control costs, but we’ve also turned a profit and attracted capital, allowing us to stay independent and privately owned.

Being in the media business, either print or digital, isn’t what anyone would call easy. I’m often asked how the internet affects things.  Technology enlarges our audience, but digital ad rates don’t come anywhere near to covering the cost of creating content.  Print ads remain essential — and that’s a good thing because print works better.  What’s unchanged is that building your brand is our goal.

Whether it’s the coal mining, education, travel or banking, digital technology has affected every business sector.  However, just because the old economy isn’t coming back doesn’t mean we can’t adapt and stay strong.

At Virginia Business, we have a great lineup of content planned for 2018.  January’s General Assembly issue is now in your hands.  February will bring our annual list of Best Places to Work in Virginia. 

March’s edition will be the sixth annual Big Book, an economic development compendium of regional and statewide leaders in the commonwealth, including our annual list of the 50 Most Influential Virginians.

Virginia Business continues to offer its monthly regional pages and community and college profiles, as well as ongoing business-trend reporting in health care, hospitality, tourism, business law, insurance, real estate, philanthropy and other areas. In addition to the magazine, look for daily updates in our e-News —  yes, we are digital, too.

At Virginia Business our values are leadership, integrity, balance, respect and success.  As always, we look forward to serving your business needs.  Our prosperity depends on your success.  Come grow with us in 2018!

Rinse, wash and repeat

To his Excellency the next Governor of Virginia: Four years is not a lot of time; you’ve got a lot to get done.  It’s not so much that the bar is set too high — how could it be?  Virginia gives its governor only four years to accomplish anything.  Most of the blocking and tackling comes down to a playbook composed of a prevent defense and a Hail Mary pass.

Like all those who’ve led the commonwealth before you, the task of a new governor largely comes down to rinse, wash and repeat, with the hope that you can stay ahead of any dirty laundry out there trying to catch up to you.  No one makes it through an election anymore without getting a little scuffed.

You’ve got to live with the fact that your current state budget was set by last year’s General Assembly and the last six months of your term will be run on a budget that you will never get to complete.  That really leaves only two midterm sessions to dance to the tune of your own biennial budget.  If this seems like a system designed to keep the executive branch from doing much, that’s right.

If you’d like to take the longer view, gubernatorial succession is where you need to start.  Virginia is the only U.S. state that doesn’t allow its governor to run for a successive four-year term. Mississippi and Kentucky eliminated their bans in 1986 and 1992, leaving Virginia the last place record holder for disallowing a successive term.

No one can say you are seeking this change out of self-interest.  It takes constitutional reform, a majority vote by both houses in two successive sessions with a statewide election in between, before it finally goes on the ballot for a statewide referendum. 

Your governorship will be long over, but Virginia will be made better by this change.  It’s also not really out of the question.  As recently as 2015, the Senate approved a measure to allow the governor a successive term, but it failed in the House.

Business leaders know that big projects take time.  Culture change alone is said to be a five-year project; perhaps some cultural change would be good for state government.  If the governorship is ever going to do anything more than rinse, wash and repeat, it has to have more time.

Let’s get at the real juggernaut, nonpartisan or bipartisan redistricting.  Your term as governor falls right in the breech of this once-in-10-years process.  It’s no secret that politicians are choosing their own voters and that the party in power does its best to perpetuate itself for the next decade. This comes up again in 2021 before your term expires.

Partisanship has become more extreme with the proliferation of tailored districts that make party primaries more important than elections.  Even worse, the elimination of competition leaves incumbents unopposed and disenfranchises voters.

Unlike gubernatorial succession, changes in redistricting can be accomplished without constitutional amendment.  The governor and the General Assembly can pass legislation to appoint a nonpartisan redistricting commission and agree to be bound by its recommendations.

Unlike the last time, 2011, do not make this a powerless advisory commission.  Let’s actually get the job done.  The truth of the matter is that state and U.S. courts are well on their way to doing this already. The optics are much better for Virginia if this is accomplished by the General Assembly rather than in the courthouse.

To be certain, being governor is not just about the big things. You’ve got to sweat a lot of other stuff, including budget gaps and funding for education, transportation and economic development, as well as cybersecurity.  None of these are easy tasks and previous governors have all found progress to be pretty elusive.  There are also things that you’d probably rather not be saddled with, such as the transition of state information technology services from Northrop Grumman to a multiplicity of other vendors — that landmine’s fuse is already lit and getting ready to blow.

But the governorship is your new job.  You asked for it.  You fought for it in a tough campaign.  You’ve got just four years to see if Virginia can do more than just rinse, wash and repeat.  Let’s get it done.

The brand called Virginia

A brand is an emotional thing; it’s how you feel about something.  A brand isn’t a name or slogan; it’s not a tagline or logo. A brand is the sum of the emotions conjured up by the mention of a company, an organization, a product or a service.  Are these emotions good or bad?  Maybe you are indifferent. 

Perhaps you need to know more.  Maybe you just don’t care.  Perhaps they are just not relevant.

Can a place have a brand?  Sure, why not?  Think about it.  Do you (heart) NY?  Is Florida the “Sunshine State?”  Have you stopped “Messin’ with Texas?”  Is Virginia “for Lovers?” Yes, these are the slogans and taglines, but how do they make you feel?

I remember the summer vacations of my childhood.  We’d drive down U.S. 460 to the beach (these were the pre-interstate days).  Motoring past vast Southside farms with camping gear in the trunk of the car, we’d travel through Waverly and Suffolk.  There was, and still may be, a larger than life sign, a statuesque figure of Mr. Peanut standing over the fields.  Brands make lasting memories. Gotta love those peanuts!

How about the “Mother of Presidents?”  Remember that one?  Virginia has been the birthplace of more presidents than any other state.  This claim may be kind of worn out — Woodrow Wilson was the last, and he was elected more than a century ago.  Today, it’s arguably doubtful any state wants to boast about being the mother of politicians.  Yes, brands can get worn down or at least a bit tarnished.

Not all brands are positive, and brands are created both intentionally and unintentionally.  It’s generally best to go the intentional route, aiming for the positive.

Brands are also enduring; that’s a good thing.  Let’s think about the brand of a place.  By most every measure Charlottesville is a great place.  It’s home to one of the nation’s top-ranked “public Ivy” schools, the University of Virginia.  Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, U.Va., with its  Rotunda and residential Lawn, fulfilled his vision of an “Academical Village.”  Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, and James Madison, the “father” of the U.S. Constitution, served as the university’s first two rectors.  By history and geography, as well as intellectual proximity, the brands of Charlottesville and Virginia are inextricably entwined.

Moving to the present day, however, it is impossible to forget the recent violence in Charlottesville. Television images of torch-carrying white supremacists marching through the Grounds and the confrontation in Emancipation Park, including the death of a counter-protestor, are not easily dismissed, nor should they be. 

Before the August incident, Charlottesville was not a stranger to controversies that grab national attention. In 2014, Rolling Stone falsely reported a horrific rape at a U.Va. fraternity house. And in 2012, the board of visitors forced the resignation of President Teresa A. Sullivan, only to overturn the decision in the face of a revolt by students, faculty and alumni. Reaction to the August incident, however, shook the nation.

Nonetheless, Charlottesville and U.Va. remain positive brands.  Why?  Because of Mr. Jefferson’s influence, of course.

It makes a difference whether a place is actually known for something really good before something really bad happens.  I’m sure Ferguson, Mo., wishes it could have had even a fraction of Charlottesville’s national reputation before becoming known as ground zero for Black Lives Matter (and black lives do matter).

If brands are emotions, then they are living, breathing things.  They need nurturing.  Great brands have relevance and authenticity.

So, what are we doing with the brand called Virginia?

One of Jefferson’s great causes was public education.  How is Virginia doing?  General fund support for education at all levels is down over the past couple of decades.  Similarly, infrastructure and economic development needs are barely being met.

Is the “New Virginia Economy” really working?  Coal jobs aren’t coming back, and the craft beer jobs replacing them don’t pay nearly the same.  Is the commonwealth’s economy really diversifying away from over-dependence on Dee Cee?

Rural and urban areas remain two completely different places in terms of economic success.  Health care?  Take a cue from the General Assembly; let’s not even talk about it.

On the other hand, what would it mean to return to “The Virginia Way?”  Genteel statesmanship or just low-tax, low-spend, don’t rock the boat, fiscal and social conservatism?  Is that really the way forward?  Is the Virginia Way a return to socially repressive Byrd-Machine politics?  Let’s hope not.

Oh, heck! I almost forgot there’s an election in November.  Virginia is one of only two states with a governor’s race the year after the presidential election — a proverbial canary in the coal mine.  Get yourself to the voting booth.  Go ahead and get emotional.  Give some thought to the brand called Virginia.  What do you want it to stand for?

How solid is the South?

Political lore holds that after signing the 1964 Civil Rights Act, President Lyndon Johnson turned to an aide saying he feared that Democrats had lost the South for a generation.  This oft-quoted but never validated story seems to ring true, despite the reality that the often-crude and always politically crafty Texan would likely have reserved such dewy-eyed sentimentalism only for his native Lone Star State.

In truth, it would be many decades before the Democrats actually lost the South.  At the time, the Republican Party was weak in the region, and Southern Democrats were far more conservative than most Republicans.

Southern Democrats, among them Virginia’s Sen. Harry F. Byrd Sr., filibustered against bringing the Civil Rights Act to the Senate floor for a vote.  The filibuster was broken by Republicans and Northern Democrats. Republican support for civil rights reform in fact ran high in both the House and Senate.  Eighty percent of House Republicans and 82 percent of Senate Republicans backed the Civil Rights Act, outpacing Democratic support in both chambers.

Just weeks after the law’s passage in 1964, a contentious and splintered Republican Party selected conservative Sen. Barry Goldwater of Arizona as its nominee for president over liberal New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller.

Goldwater lost the election in an unprecedented landslide. He carried only six states, his home state plus Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.  Despite Goldwater’s loss, this marked the beginning of the slow transformation of a once reliably Democratic “Solid South” into a new political landscape.

The South resolidified in subsequent presidential elections.  In 1968, George Wallace, the segregationist Democratic governor of Alabama, ran as an independent, winning Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Arkansas in an election won by former Vice President Richard Nixon, a Republican.  In 1972, Nixon formulated a “Southern Strategy,” quietly positioning his party as more conservative, sweeping the South and winning the popular vote in 49 of the 50 states. Sen. George McGovern of South Dakota, the Democratic nominee, carried only Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.

At the state level, ongoing party defections over many years further shifted the South to the Republican Party. Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina switched from Democrat to Republican in 1964.  North Carolina’s Jesse Helms switched in 1970 and later became a U.S. senator. 

Also in 1970, Virginian Harry F. Byrd Jr., after serving out his retiring father’s Senate term, switched from being a Democrat to run for election as an independent. Mills Godwin, elected governor of Virginia as a Democrat in 1965, switched parties and was elected again as a Republican in 1973. In 1970, Tom Bliley was elected mayor of Richmond as a Democrat; 10 years later he won the first of his many congressional races as a Republican.

Is Virginia a part of the “Solid South?” Arguably not.

Johnson won the commonwealth in 1964.  In 1968, Virginia tipped for Nixon, who won just over 43 percent of the vote. One-third of Virginia’s voters went for Democratic Vice President Hubert Humphrey, with the remaining quarter supporting Wallace.

In 1972, along with the rest of the nation, Virginia overwhelmingly voted for Nixon. In 1976, Virginia’s electoral votes went to Republican President Gerald Ford; while every other Southern state voted for that year’s winner, former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter, a Democrat.

From 1980 to 2004 along with most of the South, Republican candidates won every presidential election in Virginia. However, Virginia broke with almost all Southern states in 2008 and 2012, voting for Barack Obama.  In 2016, Virginia was the only Southern state not carried by Donald Trump.

Looking back, the idea that the South was swiftly delivered to the Republican Party by Lyndon Johnson’s signing of the Civil Rights Act is actually a misreading of history.  After decades of change the “Solid South” is still far from being as politically uniform as some might be inclined to believe.  And more than most Southern states, Virginia remains in play.