Norfolk Innovation Corridor and Greater Norfolk Corporation
Annual Meeting Recap
On Tuesday, June 11, the Norfolk Innovation Corridor (NIC) hosted a joint annual meeting with the Greater Norfolk Corporation at the historic Wells Theatre. The event was attended by many board members from both organizations, along with our valued stakeholders and supporters. We celebrated our collective achievements and welcomed special guest speaker, Julie Wagner, co-author of The Rise of Innovation Districts and president and founder of The Global Institute on Innovation Districts, a nonprofit whose mission is to accelerate the growth and evolution of innovation districts worldwide.
After Don Winchester, President of Greater Norfolk Corporation, kicked off the meeting with some highlights from the year, Donna Phaneuf, NIC Board Chair and President of VIA Design, emphasized the importance of the Corridor’s mission and highlighted the progress made over the past year.
Then, we were honored to have Julie Wagner, who flew in from her home in Switzerland, take the stage with a presentation that reinforces the critical role innovation districts play in local prosperity and growth. She addressed the growing importance of innovation imperatives, which strengthen the role of place-based innovation, and shared how innovation districts can play an important role in advancing equity and inclusion.
She shared insights and implications for the NIC and provided case studies from other innovation districts that NIC can learn from and emulate.
After spending a few days with leadership and stakeholders, Julie believes that the NIC will likely become:
- a hotbed of companies across multiple sectors advancing enabling technologies including integrated AI, machine learning;
- a locale where resiliency and climate mitigation activities, crucial to this region, are tested and shopped around to scale; and
- a center of gravity for the region to diversify its base of talent.
The meeting concluded with a Q&A session, where attendees had the opportunity to ask questions and share their thoughts. It was a lively discussion that left us all excited for the work ahead and what the future holds for the NIC.
As Doug Smith, President & CEO of the Hampton Roads Alliance, noted at the conclusion of the meeting, “This is our regional moment right now. The regional economic order is changing … the regions that do the things that you [the NIC] are doing and figuring out how to capitalize on this new order are the ones that are going to succeed.”
“And I think the NIC plays a really important piece in that. It's an exciting time to be here.”
Innovation districts continue to grow and prosper internationally, with over 150 districts emerging worldwide, and The Global Institute on Innovation Districts works with more than one-third of them. We are proud to be a part of this organization and benefit from their support and collaboration to ensure the Norfolk Innovation District continues to grow and support our community and our region.
Interested in Julie Wagner’s full presentation?
Click here to download the complete presentation deck.
Click here to view the video.
Click here to read Julie’s initial takeaways on LinkedIn.
We are also pleased to announce members of our Board of Directors:
