Another study?

 Consultants must have the head honchos of the region on their speed dial.

Another study is imminent.

This time it’s the Regional Organization Study, at a cost of $60,000, to be funded by the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, another so-called regional organization which aims to put some lipstick on this pig known as Hampton Roads. 

Every time I open the newspaper or pop online to read the news, someone, somewhere in this region is doing a study or paying to have a study done. 

A study of the lust of Virginia Beach residents.

A study gauging the avarice, as well as the lust, of local developers.

A study of the hubris of local mayors and city council members.

The sloth of VDOT officials.

Even the air we breathe is studied.

The study, to be done by another out of town consultant, Texas-based Greyhill Advisors, is supposed to “assess the efficiency and effectiveness” of more than five regional organizations.

They include the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance, Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, the Civic Leadership Institute, the Hampton Roads Military and Federal Facilities Alliance and Future of Hampton Roads, in addition to the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce and the Hampton Roads Partnership.

Just writing the above sentence wearies me. So many organizations and so much money diverted here and there and everywhere, except where the money should go.

So now we need another study to tell us what we already know.

That there are too many organizations stumbling over each other and getting in each others way.

We don’t need a consultant to reach that conclusion. Besides, if you’re going to waste money, waste it on a local group.

Look no further than the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, which does represent our interests. Their studies are published and then are filed in Internet deep space. 

I speak of the “Regional Competitiveness” study done two years ago by the HRPDC. It came, it went and was forgotten.

Curious, but I thought the studiers would also “assess the efficiency and effectiveness” of the region’s two labor organizations, the Peninsula Council for Workforce Development and Opportunity Inc.

Somehow, these two organizations were never mentioned in press reports I read.

Here’s a suggestion.

Let’s take a look at economic development in the region.

Each of the Big 7 cities has their own economic development department populated by staffs with polysyllabic titles and budgets that exceed $1 million.

Then, of course, each city has its own economic development authority issuing bonds, owning property and doing deals without the state regulatory handcuffs that hamper cities. 

And each city bestows upon potential customers its own package of perks, from tax credits to exemption from certain zoning requirements.

And, please, despite the denials and the letter filed in someone’s office under “burn after reading,” the cities do burglarize each other’s firms.

Then, there’s the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance, which sits on a branch in a strong wind and ready to break.

It can market. But it can’t toss potential clients tax breaks or other local goodies.

So the reps of local economic development departments ride along on overseas trips to woo investors hoping to capture some investment for their city.

So let’s create a Hampton Roads Economic Development Authority – or have the legislators create it.

After all, we have the Virginia Port Authority, the Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority, the Virginia Spaceflight Authority…

Then appoint Harry Lester as czar and Deborah Stearns as czarina.

Sounds like a plan to me.