Local small-business leaders cheer White House talks ...

When Ulysses Turner left the White House on Friday, he was eager to explore new investment in Hampton Roads.

The CEO of Atlantic Apartment Rentals and Development Co., which builds multifamily housing primarily in Norfolk, spent the day with 27 other Hampton Roads business leaders who met with the Obama administration to discuss ways to help small businesses grow. The visit convinced Turner that the economy would head in a positive direction this year.

"I came away feeling that the president's policies are very pro-small business," he said. "It was a very inspirational day."

Gary McCollum, senior vice president and general manager of Cox Communications Inc.'s operations in Virginia, agreed that the meetings showed the administration's belief in small business "as a key driver in this economy."

During a series of afternoon workshops, McCollum said, he heard encouraging ideas about the use of technology to improve productivity and about opportunities for small- and medium-size defense contractors. Despite reductions in defense spending, administration officials assured the local companies that money is available and that the process to get it would become more efficient, McCollum said.

Among those who attended the White House meetings were Mike Petters, president and CEO of Huntington Ingalls Industries in Newport News; Gilbert Bland, president and CEO of Tymark Enterprises Inc., the Norfolk-based owner of several Burger King franchises; and Tom Walker, president of Chesapeake technology development firm Web Teks. The meetings were set up by Business Forward, which organizes businesses to inform government decision-making on economic issues.

Some in the group attended President Barack Obama's news conference earlier in the day, when he suggested shrinking the number of federal agencies that deal with business.

The simplification of government regulations arose as a common theme, Turner and McCollum said. So did the need to nurture an educated workforce, from kindergarten through college, McCollum said.

"So we're producing the talent that can not only get a job but can create a job."?

Carolyn Shapiro, (757) 446-2270, carolyn.shapiro@pilotonline.com

Source: http://hamptonroads.com/2012/01/local-smallbusiness-leaders-cheer-white-house-talks

ncaa basketball boise state football boise state football jack and jill uss carl vinson holly marie combs unc basketball