State of the Community 2025
By Neil Williamson, Free Enterprise Forum President
On Friday, February 21, the fourth annual Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce State of the Community event was held at the beautiful new Bolick Center at Piedmont Virginia Community College. Over 150 leaders from industry, hospitality, nonprofit and government sectors gathered to hear remarks from four of the region’s premier thought pace setters.
Dr. Mariane Asad Doyle, CEO of the Center for Nonprofit Excellence and Chair of the Chamber Public Policy Committee, emceed the event and provided the welcoming remarks. Asad Doyle highlighted the importance of the nonprofit sector and the economic multiplier effect it has throughout the region. She also mentioned the many challenges and opportunities the region has faced over the last three years and how as a community we worked together to solve difficult issues.
Hamilton Lombard, Estimates Program Manager with the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at UVA, was the morning’s first speaker. Lombard outlined “Demographic Trends in the Charlottesville Region in the 2020s and Beyond.” Lombard stated the region is different from other college towns, with a comparatively diversified economy. He mentioned the region grew by nearly 50,000 in the last two decades and should plan on at least that level of growth over the next twenty years. Charlottesville has become one of the most expensive Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the eastern U.S. Outside of Florida, the Charlottesville MSA has the highest share (31%) of residents reporting investments as an income source. Lombard indicated a growing share of the regional workforce (2 in 5) live outside the MSA.
View Hamilton Lombard's Presentation Slides (PDF)
Entrepreneur Antwon Brinson, Founder and CEO of Culinary Concepts AB, provided a powerful keynote presentation. He highlighted that he chose to live in Charlottesville and had to build up his business and personal networks from zero. He expressed joy in finding areas of connection with community members across a variety of different spectrums. Chef Brinson’s “recipe” for building real connections with people is to listen first. People want to share their vision and desires; and, when you understand their hopes and dreams, you may be able to help them along your journey. He called on the audience to engage in the many volunteer opportunities in the Chamber and region at large.
View Antwon Brinson's Presentation Slides (PDF)
Albemarle County Executive Jeff Richardson provided the county perspective on the state of the community. Richardson highlighted county investments designed to support a high quality of life, provide excellent customer (citizen) service, encourage learning at all levels, and promote economic vibrancy. He credited his Board of Supervisors for making the decisions necessary to keep Albemarle moving forward. In a lighter moment, Richardson presented an oversized check to Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders representing the County’s annual revenue sharing investment in the City.
View Jeff Richardson's Presentation Slides (PDF)
Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders was the penultimate speaker for the morning. Sanders said the state of the community is good and strong. He highlighted the positive relationships he and his staff have with Albemarle County staff. He also mentioned the City Council leadership on issues such as Public Safety, Economic Vibrancy, Affordable Housing and Community Development. Sanders touched on the terrible events of 2017 – he said we must always remember but we must not allow those events to define Charlottesville. Sanders happily reported for the first time in a long time, he has an almost complete executive team and hopes to make three final additional hires in the coming weeks. He highlighted the work of the executive team in executing City Council vision.
View Sam Sanders' Presentation Slides (PDF)
Dr. Asad Doyle closed the meeting thanking the venue and breakfast sponsor Piedmont Virginia Community College, and encouraging the audience to become a greater part of the Chamber by volunteering for one of the affinity groups.
