HomeMy WebLinkAboutII. A. 5. Economic Development 4.22.2025PROPOSED FY 2025-26 OPERATING BUDGET
City of Virginia Beach
Christian Green, Director
Department of Economic Development
April 22, 2025
Users\chgreen\OneDrive -City of Virginia Beach\Budget\2026
Department Organization Summary
•Total FTEs
•Total FTEs
•Number of Divisions
•Total FY 2024-25 Budget
•Number of Divisions
Total FTEs Number of Divisions Total FY 2025-26 Budget
22.00 3 $8,321,216
Economic Development Divisions
1.The HIVE
2.Project Development
3.Economic Development
•Business Attraction
•Business Retention, Expansion & Workforce
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Users\chgreen\OneDrive - City of Virginia Beach\Budget\2026
FY 2025-26 Programmatic Budget
•Total FTEs
•Total FTEs
•Number of Divisions
•Total FY 2024-25 Budget
•Number of Divisions
•Total FY 2024-25 Budget
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Economic Development,
$3,507,292 , 77%
Project Development,
$756,054 , 16%
The HIVE , $321,094 , 7%
PROPOSED GENERAL FUND
Users\chgreen\OneDrive - City of Virginia Beach\Budget\2026
Department Operating Budget Summary
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Program FY2024-25
Amended
FY 2024-25
FTE
FY 2025-26
Proposed
FY 2025-26
FTE Change ($)Change (%)
Economic Development $4,134,605 15 $3,503,292 13 ($631,313)-15.26%
Project Development 0 0 $756,054 7 $756,054 100%
EVRIFA $4,000 0 $4,000 0 0 0%
The HIVE $147,492 1 $321,094 2 $173,602 117.7%
GrowSmart $451,830 3 0 0 ($451,830)-100%
General Fund Total $4,590,435 19 $4,584,440 22 $153,487 -3.34%
Town Center SSD $3,733,026 0 $3,736,776 0 $3,750 0.10%
Total $8,470,953 19 $8,321,216 22 ($149,737)-1.77%
Major Changes
GrowSmart Realignment - ($440,622) - (3.0 FTEs)
•Reorganization to align staffing more effectively with the core function of
partner departments. GrowSmart is an early childhood education program
focused on healthy development, school readiness, and reading proficiency for
children ages 0-8. Due to the nature of the programming, this program was
moved to the Libraries in FY 2024-25.
Project Development Team Realignment - $756,054 - 7.0 FTEs
•Reorganization to align staffing more effectively with the core function of
partner departments. Seven (7) FTEs associated with the Project Development
team is moving to Economic Development from the Planning Department.
Reduction of Staff - ($135,195) - (1.0 FTEs)
•Economic Development will be reduced by 1.0 FTE, a business development
coordinator, due to a restructuring in the department creating organizational
efficiencies.
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Major Changes Cont.
Strategic Alignment of Business Development Teams
Total: 9 FTEs
•Business Attraction (3 FTEs): Reorganization and realignment of staff
has 3 FTEs focused on strategic attraction initiatives. Each position has
dedicated market sectors—designed to develop industry experts and
guided by a Top 10 target company list per market sector.
•Business Retention, Expansion & Workforce (4 FTEs): Reorganization
and realignment of staff focused on meeting with the top 300
businesses in the City. Two (2) FTEs focus on the 200 largest employers
in the City. One FTE is focused on companies with 25-50 employees.
One (1) employee is dedicated to workforce initiatives.
•The HIVE—Small Business & Entrepreneurship (2 FTEs): Realignment of
two (2) FTEs focused on serving small businesses and fast-growing
entrepreneurs—supporting marketing, special programming,
mentorship and 1:1 counseling.Companies with 1-24 employees are
typically serviced by services at the HIVE.
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Initiatives Underway and Conclusion
Industry Diversification & Strategic Planning
•Defense Diversification: Defense remains a top business industry for
growth in the City. The growth opportunities are within several
subsectors, including technology, research and development, energy,
logistics, and workforce support.
•Technology and AI: It is important to monitor and adapt to
technological changes across business industries and meet the needs
of current and future businesses in Virginia Beach. The goal is to work
with industry partners and existing companies to explore ways we can
use the City's unique tech infrastructure to recruit and retain
businesses.
•Economic Strategic Plan Update: The 2021 economic development
strategy will be updated to reflect new regional and global conditions
included but not limited to defense. Input will be received by City
leadership (Council and VBDA) on industry focus areas and
departmental next steps.
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Initiatives Underway and Conclusion Cont.
Sites and Buildings
•Potential opportunities for business expansion pose a significant challenge
for business recruitment and diversification.
Offshore Wind
•Dominion Energy is currently underway on the construction of the Coastal
Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) Project. Once constructed, the Project’s
ongoing operations will support 1,100 direct and indirect jobs in the
Hampton Roads Region annually, and almost $210 million in economic
output.
Tariffs Impact
•Recent trade and tariff policy changes within the Federal government the
Department is realigning efforts to provide data and programming for
companies and industries most impacted. The Department is coordinating
with Federal, State and regional partners to drive the response. This is an
effort that was not anticipated in 2025-26 but given the business impact, it
will be a proactive priority for the near future.
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