Take this opportunity to visit HamptonRoadsPerforms.org and use the newly added “Search” feature.
Your input and feedback is important. Do you know of a program or initiative which should be highlighted on any of the Quality of Life Indicator pages under “At A Glance”?
Tell us what you like, what is missing and what you’d like to know.
If you have feedback, please contact us today.
HamptonRoadsPerforms.org website launched on February 3rd, 2009; see the full press conference video vignettes below. The website gives citizens an opportunity to see real world results and will supplement and guide efforts by the Hampton Roads region’s government and civic leaders on the development and implementation of a roadmap for the future of Hampton Roads.
Video: Launch of HamptonRoadsPerforms.org by the Honorable Timothy M. Kaine, Virginia’s Governor
Video: Live Demo by Donna Morris, Hampton Roads Partnership Executive Vice President
Video: Wrap-Up and Next Steps by Dana Dickens, Hampton Roads Partnership President and CEO
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A new report by the Pew Center on the States titled “Trade-off Time: How Four States Continue to Deliver” commends Virginia’s data-based and results-oriented approach to budgeting and management as an effective decision-making strategy for addressing current fiscal challenges. |
Of specific note, the Pew Center said the state’s website Virginia Performs has “created a culture of evidence-based decision making that allows Virginia’s leaders to systematically tackle the state’s budget crisis and increase agency productivity,” adding that Virginia “will be better positioned to weather bad times” because of its budgeting and management practices.
The Virginia Performs website, launched in January 2007, focuses on seven key areas and outlines the state’s long-term goals for each. Within each area, selected societal indicators are used to help answer the question “How is Virginia doing?” Where available, data is used to compare Virginia to nearby states and national rates.
In early February 2009, the first regional version of the state’s website was launched in collaboration with the Hampton Roads Partnership, HamptonRoadsPerforms.org, with the same view toward enhancing transparency and accountability.
Governor of Virginia – Timothy M. Kaine
Launch of Hampton Roads Performs – February 3, 2009
Governor Kaine delivers remarks at the launch of Hampton Roads Performs, a new website that will support regional planning efforts and allow citizens to monitor Hampton Roads’ progress on more than 35 quality of life indicators.
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by Leona Baker |
The sweeping view from the penthouse of the state’s tallest building, the Westin at Virginia Beach Town Center, provided a symbolic backdrop for the Feb. 3 unveiling of a new tool designed to give citizens, government officials and business leaders an equally sweeping view of the quality of life in Hampton Roads.
Gov. Timothy Kaine was the keynote speaker at a small gathering of regional public officials and community leaders for the official launch of Hampton Roads Performs, a joint effort by the Hampton Roads Partnership and the Council on Virginia’s Future.
The event was capped by a demonstration of HamptonRoadsPerforms.org, a new Web site intended to provide easy access to a broad spectrum of data about the region via more than 35 indicators in key areas including the economy, government and citizens, education, health and family, public safety, transportation and natural resources.
The effort is a regional version of a similar statewide program called Virginia Performs, which Kaine initiated, and is a performance-based management tool for government, or as Kaine called it, a “yardstick” by which government can be held to task for improving the lives of its citizens.
“I’m a passionate believer that the way you make a difference is by setting really concrete and measurable goals,” Kaine said, “holding yourselves accountable, putting that throughout the organization, letting citizens and everybody understand what your goals are. That’s what Hampton Roads Performs is about.”
The Hampton Roads Performs Web site offers a detailed analysis of each of the indicators, summed up by a simple arrow direction – pointing up for areas that are improving, sideways for areas that are maintaining and down for areas that are worsening.
Under the economy heading, for example, Hampton Roads shows improvement in the areas of business startups, modeling and simulation, personal income, port/maritime, research and technology, and workforce quality. The region is holding steady in the areas of employment growth, poverty and unemployment. But Hampton Roads needs improvement in net migration, or the measure of people moving to and from our area.
Click on the Scorecard for the downloadable Web site version.A page called “Hampton Roads Scorecard” provides a performance snapshot for all of the indicators. Click on a particular indicator and you’ll find more lengthy explanations as to why the indicator is important and some background on the score for that area – complete with colorful, detailed graphs and photos.
The tool has been useful at the state level, Kaine said, in making difficult budget decisions. Poorly performing areas have been given greater priority in terms of allocating resources.
“I think those in local government will be able to use it,” he said. “I think those in the private sector will find it very instructive about strengths but also weaknesses. Thomas Edison once said discontent is the first sign of progress.”
Hampton Roads Performs is an obvious resource for businesses considering relocating to the area.
Data is collected from more than 40 national, state and local reporting agencies from the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics to Virginia Port Authority. Information on the site will be updated annually, but on an ongoing basis.
Though Hampton Roads is the first region in which the initiative is being implemented, the idea is to roll it out in other areas of the state if it proves successful.
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Bearing Drift blogger, Brian Kirwin, shares website with his readers whose comments will be used for website updates. |
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WAVY TV adds website to featured links. |
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New website to rate and measure the progress of Hampton Roads
by Hugh Lessig
A virtual report card for the region aims to spur discussion and provide a wider window onto Hampton Roads.
From traffic to health care, Kaine says, the region will be able to hold itself accountable.
The press conference convened on the top floor of the tallest building in Virginia, but organizers had an even broader view in mind.
Hampton Roads officials joined Gov. Timothy M. Kaine Tuesday to roll out a new web site – a high-tech, data-heavy answer to a deceptively simple question: Just how is Hampton Roads doing these days?
The site is called “Hampton Roads Performs,” and it rates the region on everything from work force quality to obesity, from personal income to public transit. Even that perennial sore spot – traffic congestion – gets its own spot in cyberspace.
“This is going to be a platform for us to measure our progress, to empower our leaders, to empower our citizens,” said Dana Dickens, president and CEO of the Hampton Roads Partnership, which launched the site. Dickens addressed the media from the penthouse atop the 38-story Westin Virginia Beach Town Center.
The site is built along the same lines as a state web site, Virginia Performs, although certain features are unique to southeastern Virginia. For instance, the Hampton Roads site includes a section on ports and maritime issues.
It gives web surfers the ten-thousand-foot view with a simple arrow that points up or down next to a topic. An upward arrow indicates improvement; a downward arrow shows things are getting worse.
But the site also provides an opportunity to get behind the numbers, offering context and comparing Hampton Roads with other regions in Virginia and similar urban areas around the nation.
Take traffic. Every political leader – and every commuter — knows that Virginia has struggled find ways to ease congestion in Hampton Roads. The web site gives traffic a “maintaining” grade — noted by a sideways arrow – perhaps appropriate for a General Assembly that has been stuck in neutral.
The data behind that grade contains mixed news.
Compared to similar metropolitan areas across the country, Hampton Roads does pretty well – it has the second-lowest average commute time, better than areas such as Jacksonville, Fla., or the Raleigh/Cary, N.C. area.
But compared to other areas of Virginia, it has one of the longest commute times – a whopping 25 percent longer than Harrisonburg, Va.
It also contains inside-baseball stuff that the average person might not know. For example, Hampton Roads is one the three leading areas of the country for the modeling and simulation industry. The other two are Orlando, Fla., and Huntsville, Ala.
The web site received a good grade from Gov. Kaine, who called it a way for the region to hold itself accountable.
“I’m a passionate believer that the way you make a difference is by setting concrete and measurable goals,” he said, “and letting citizens understand what your goals are.”
The web site is www.hamptonroadsperforms.org.
Virginia’s Hampton Roads is a region rich in history, situated in the southeastern corner of Virginia, where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States. The region, comprised of 16 counties and cities, each with unique assets, is enhanced by an extensive system of waterways and a population that has been growing and changing over the last decade. This profile summarizes key demographic, economic and transportation trends. A publication of HRPDC and HRP.
For the full report (dated 30 Jan 09), click HERE and visit HamptonRoadsPerforms.org for more complete quality of life data on the Hampton Roads region.
Hampton Roads, Virginia — The Hampton Roads Partnership launched Hampton Roads Performs, a “new view” for Hampton Roads, on Tuesday, February 3rd atop the Westin Virginia Beach Town Center, the tallest building in Virginia, a 38-story high rise hotel and condominium residence. As Chair of the Council on Virginia’s Future, Governor Tim Kaine participated in the launch of the new website focusing on regional performance in Hampton Roads.
Hampton Roads Performs is a multi-year, collaborative project of the Hampton Roads Partnership and the Council on Virginia’s Future. The Council, established by the 2003 Virginia General Assembly, is comprised of state, business and community leaders, who are committed to improving the quality of life for all Virginians.
The website shows how well the Hampton Roads region is doing on a broad array of quality of life indicators, many of which are aligned with the Council’s own site, Virginia Performs, while others are unique and will be further customized to Hampton Roads. It features a “Hampton Roads Scorecard,” highlighting each indicator’s performance and whether it is trending downward, improving or maintaining.
Hampton Roads Performs, www.HamptonRoadsPerforms.org, is modeled after the Virginia Performs website, launched in early 2007, and will serve as the first regional prototype in Virginia. The purpose is to inform and engage citizens with Hampton Roads’ progress and its future as well as significantly enhancing government transparency and accountability. The website gives citizens an opportunity to see real world results and will supplement and guide efforts by government and civic leaders on the development and implementation of a roadmap for Hampton Roads’ future.
Organizations can use the scorecard and research in community education and dialogue as well as to structure and facilitate civic engagement processes in the future.
Click HERE for an easy how-to-use-the-website Guide to HamptonRoadsPerforms.org.
HamptonRoadsPerforms.org is a new performance site that focuses on Virginia’s Hampton Roads region. A collaborative project between the Council on Virginia’s Future and the Hampton Roads Partnership, the site shows how well the region is doing on a broad array of indicators; many of these measures are aligned with Virginia Performs, while others are unique to the region.
hrpartnership.wordpress.com 