Virginia Economic Development Partnership ranked second in national study

Published December 15, 2014 by Robert Powell, III

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) has been named No. 2 in a national ranking of the 10 top state economic development organizations.

The ranking by the American Economic Development Institute (AEDI) and Pollina Corporate Real Estate is based largely on information from the second stage of the AEDI/Pollina Corporate Top 10 Pro-Business States 2014 report released earlier this year.

The report examines each state’s incentive programs and economic development marketing efforts.  It analyzed the resources devoted to the state agencies, their ability to respond to new company inquiries and existing company needs, and the functionality of their website.

“VEDP’s recognition as the second-best state economic development organization in the country is tremendous validation of their critical work,” Gov. Terry McAuliffe said in a statement.

Missouri took the No. 1 spot with a score of 112, followed by Virginia at 110. South Carolina, Nebraska, Kansas, Louisiana, Ohio, Alabama, Mississippi, and Utah rounded out the top 10 list.

While praising the work on the top 10 states, Ronald R. Pollina, chairman of the American Economic Development Institute and president of Park Ridge, Illinois-based Pollina Corporate Real Estate Inc., had a sobering assessment of national economic development efforts

“The national effort at economic development is failing. American companies, if they are to survive in a global economy, must be located in the most pro-business locations possible,” he said in a statement. “Leaders of economic development organizations throughout the country need to do a far better job of understanding that their primary objective to create new jobs and retain those already located in their state.”

VEDP, a marketing organization, was created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1995 to support the development and expansion of the economy of the Commonwealth. The organization is a state authority, which is governed by a 24-member board of directors appointed by the Governor and the Virginia General Assembly.VEDP has offices in Virginia, Germany, Shanghai, Mexico, Japan, India and the United Kingdom.

AEDI is a nonpartisan public policy and economics research institution whose mission is to improve the American economy by fostering economic growth and prosperity through employment creation and international trade. AEDI also seeks to improve federal, state and local economic development planning in the United States.

Through research, training, conferences, demonstration projects, publications and multimedia, AEDI provides the highest quality, nonpartisan analysis and evaluation for federal, state and local economic development planning and policy decisions.