Class of 2014 Visits Northern Virginia

It has truly been a pleasure for me to be a part of the LEAD VIRGINIA Class of 2014. Not only have I found LEAD VIRGINIA to be an incredible learning experience, but the opportunity it affords in forming relationships with other leaders that I've come to respect and admire is invaluable.

Our most recent experience took us to Northern Virginia. While I've been a consistent visitor of this community, the LEAD VIRGINIA session cast a completely different perspective on the culture of the community, the vision of economic development, and the impact of Northern Virginia's economy on the rest of the state.

While there were many interesting discoveries made throughout the weekend, the message heard from the Honorable Thomas M. "Tom" Davis was my personal highlight of the session. Having served in Congress for many years, he shared with us a unique perspective on the political landscape. His maturity as a Congressman, his incredible sense of moral, ethical and political obligation, and his passion for service was clearly evident in his remarks and inspiring to hear.

The most impactful part of the weekend for me was hearing from a George Mason economist of the financial outcomes of the first quarter 2014 in Northern Virginia. I was astounded to hear that the most significant job growth was occurring in the service sector, where wages tend to be suppressed in comparison to other sectors. The presentation coupled the job reports with an overall decline in procurement, all ingredients which contributed to a negative economic report.

As a citizen of Southwest Virginia whose career has always been in Healthcare, I've had a personal awareness that we are in an intrinsic competition in our state for budgetary dollars. I've been aware that healthcare is often at odds with transportation and education. The pool is limited. The need is great. The need supersedes the available cash to fund specific initiatives important to our Commonwealth's economy. What was underscored through the LEAD VIRGINIA experience in Northern Virginia is the impact of Northern Virginia's economic success to the rest of the state. I developed a new and very different respect for the fact that Northern Virginia cannot be viewed as an isolated or separate entity but a pipeline of resources to the remainder of our Commonwealth.

In my opinion, the biggest take away of the weekend was the impact of transportation on economic development. The Silver Line, the metro extension that will include stops at Tysons, Reston, and eventually Dulles Airport and Loudoun County, is clearly a fundamental part of a framework upon which the Tyson's Corner community is being constructed. The long term economic development vision for this community was clearly apparent. The financial risk that is being leveraged in building this community was profound. The success or lack thereof of the transportation infrastructure, in my mind, is directly correlated to economic development of "the city" of Tyson's Corner.

The session also included tours of the Newseum, the Washington D.C. monuments, the Junior Achievement Finance Park in Fairfax County, the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, and Reston Town Center. The Class of 2014 heard from many experts in the field of healthcare, education, transportation, economic development, and the initiatives of the regional minority chambers.

Susan Kearney, '12, COO of Network for Good, and Allen Roberts, '12, VP of Technical Operations & Support for Cox Communications, were dedicated co-chairs, who did a spectacular job of showcasing the region's importance to the rest of the Commonwealth in addition to the factors that set it apart.

- Contributed by: Lisa Sprinkel, Senior Director of Home Care and Hospice, Carilion Clinic; Class of 2014

We greatly appreciate the support of our 2014 Northern Virginia Session Sponsors: Cox Communications and XO Communications. We would also like to recognize the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce and Washington Dulles International Airport for their contributions to our 2014 Northern Virginia session.