I love what I do. I love building. I I I I love the idea of of seeing something as it is and and also seeing what it might be. And and so for me, it's it's it's working with people and understanding. My grandfather, you know, he sat there and he told me when I was younger, you know, if you wanna be a success in life, you need to be a conduit to somebody else's success.
And he said that if you do that, then successful will automatically happen. All you have to do is not focus on you. Focus on helping other people, and things will happen.
Afternoon morning. Good to see you, Zach.
It's great to see you, mister Ryan. Big news. Big news. Last year around this time, it became, there became a notification out that the Savannah Bananas were gonna come to town. No dice on getting tickets for me.
Very disappointing. You know, the rolling circus, the rolling Harlem Globe Tires for for the old baseball, coming back to town. Tickets have been acquired. I will be attending. Mhmm.
Super excited about that. I bring that up because I just think it's really interesting how a small market with just an innovative mind, with Jesse Cole behind don't know if you've read any of his books or followed Savannah and Bananas. How they've really become, if not a global, phenomenon, definitely a national phenomenon, partnerships with ESPN, selling out football stadiums. You know, for them to be even, you know, thinking about coming here is pretty cool. I think they sold out all three nights last year.
Three nights again this year. I just like the way that someone who wouldn't take no for an answer really wanted to do something differently and has really gotten the attention of so many eyeballs. I think it's a pretty cool story, and I'm I'm excited to see it in person.
Yeah. I dig I dig what they're doing, and they certainly have built their brand. Do they also they also have cheap concessions. Right? Is that part of the deal?
Or is Okay. So the tickets for the Tide The Tide Stadium 1, 30 5 Dollars. That gets you that's any seat in there. I believe at home stadium in Savannah, they've sold out for, I don't know, how many years in a row. Right.
But it's ticket, I think free parking, and free concessions for, like, $25.
Wow. Unbelievable. I I hope that I hope that we don't take advantage of the sold out crowds and jack up prices for concessions while they are here. That'll be cool if they if it was, like, they reciprocated that stuff. Part of the writer, if they will, that, hey.
When we're here, stay true to to how we do things back home as well. That would be neat.
Would be. Don't imagine that being the case. But the other days that, Tides do sell out is, like, 50¢ dollar hot dog days. It's crazy. Right.
Don't know if you ever been there on one of those nights.
I think that they, we call them glizzies now, Zach.
Glizzies. Yes. Get yourself a glizzy. Today, a guest that you've met before I have never met, he's new to town. Not sure where from originally, but most recently, Scottsdale, Arizona.
Christian Green with Virginia Beach Economic Development. What up?
Hey, guys. Thank you for having me be a part of the show today. So
Yeah. It's great to time. Great to see you again. Yeah. Looking forward to diving in with Virginia Beach.
A lot of stuff going on. The the dome just opened.
Yep. Just opened. Just had Pat Benatar rocked the house there this last weekend, so super exciting. And and I think Shabuzy is coming and a couple other axe course that might be popular running down the the line
as well. So You started doing some reading on, like, the the Old Dome, and I I jeez. For someone who has lived here as long as I have, I didn't realize, like, how iconic the Old Dome was.
Like Yeah. The big feelings.
Yeah. I mean, it's like like, for example, Zach, Jimi Hendrix, he lit his guitar on fire, that was here in Virginia Beach. I mean, like, that's probably
one thing.
Time you only did that once?
Well, that was, like, the like, that was, like, his iconic performance that everyone refers to and knows about that, and that happened here. That's I think that's pretty cool.
You know, they have three dog night open, and they they were the last act when when the dome closed back in the day. So
I heard they rocked the house.
Yeah. But
I guess the I guess the interesting thing tidbit about the dome is that it's not necessarily a dome. It's just named the dome in honor of the previous
It's not a dome because I drove by the other day looking for it, couldn't find it to find out that I had found it.
But a couple weeks ago,
I drove by there. I was I was at an event at Watermans, and I guess they didn't put up the barricade yet so that you couldn't see the surf park being installed. So it's really cool. It's gonna be really interesting when that comes up to see just you know, to to be able to from the from the road driving, maybe not safe. But to, you know, peek in there real quick and to see people getting their little Kelly Slater on, if that's a real surfer's name, I feel like, from the past.
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
I think that's a pretty cool thing, pretty interesting place to put it. Yeah. I guess it's gonna be year round surfing.
Yeah. Yeah. I think the one of the the one of my team members here, her husband is a big surfer, and so he's a member. So they have the memberships.
Okay.
So I didn't know that was a thing either, but I think that it's pretty cool that they're gonna have memberships and and be able to ride waves, you know, year round whenever they want.
It's $20.25, Christian. Everything's a subscription. You know, you gotta get that monthly income even if you're a surfboard. I know. You gotta
gotta make it happen. Right? So
That's crazy.
Guaranteed income.
I like that some of the, like, the subscriptions are partnering with other subscriptions so that you can get, like, quasi deal.
Oh, yeah. That's nice. Oh, yeah.
It's cool. So you've in the It is the in the position now?
So next week will be three three months.
Wow. So
I've been I've been in the position now for three months doing doing the job, getting a drink of water through a fire hose and, you know, realigning the department and and creating the kind of the the footprint and the focus for the next five years at least for the department as far as focus and how we we do things and restructuring the department. So
I'm curious. Like, what what were some of the things that, like, like, is this just fertile ground for, like, to make great things happen? What was the thing that attracted you to Virginia Beach to even pursue traveling across the country?
You know, to be honest so love the Virginia Beach. Love the area. Honestly, our our daughter is a lieutenant commander in the navy, and she's stationed here and grandkids. And and she called me up about, I think, June, July of last year and and actually asked me if if I wanna be closer to the grandkids who are two and and three. And, you know, I was like, of course.
And and so she started sending me information about Virginia Beach. And before that, I'd always been recruited pretty much for the last probably fifteen years to come in and realign and joke around that I'm I'm the fixer, if you will, in in the economic development world coming in and realigning and and creating kind of a strategic focus, taking a private side approach to a public entity. I started my career on the private side after I graduated from college. I threw everything in the back of a U Haul and drove to Arizona. And backstory to that was I had the Grand Canyon when I was 12 with my dad, fell in love with with it and and everything.
And so when people would ask me what I was gonna do when I grew up, I told them I don't know, but I'm gonna live in Arizona. So how does an Arizona kids up there and end up in Virginia Beach? I'll get to that point. So everything through everything in the back of the U Haul, went to Arizona, and and started my my career there, and there's a whole story around that as well. But, after twenty years there, I was, in May, and, my wife and I were talking and the last child had I graduated was graduating from high school.
And and she you know, it was I remember it was, like, May 10, I think. It was pretty close about this time of year. And it was 07:00 in the morning. It was 92 degrees. And we were thinking to ourselves, why are we doing this anymore?
A lot of the kids are are throughout the country to our east, and so we decided to to look at the East Coast. I did come by way of Atlanta. I was in Atlanta for for two years, and then this is actually the first time in, like I said, over well over a decade, probably fifteen to eighteen years, where I actually targeted, the city and, was very focused on on, getting here and getting the position.
Well, welcome to the land of humidity. Whereas, like, when we wake up at seven in the morning, if it's under 92% humidity that we're like, man, it's a dry day.
I walked out this morning. I was like, man, it is humid this morning. So I it you know, all the rain and stuff. But, you know, you know, I I grew up in Kansas. So and first job, I was eight years old breaking horses for a rancher next door and everything.
So, you know, love the outdoors, love being outside, and and and activity and things like that. I I joke around that I'll do anything ending in I n g that doesn't have a motor attached to it. So hiking, biking, you name it, swimming, paddling, kayaking, canyoneering is another one. All things I I love to do. So, you know, Virginia Beach is an outdoor person's heaven, and and I'm just glad to be a part of the community.
Yeah. Alright. So you I dig it.
You you said you said five years as a plan. I'm just interested, like that doesn't seem deep enough. Right? It seems like we gotta go further out than that, farther out than that, whatever the correct, you know, terminology is. Correct.
Right. You know, English isn't that. It seems like five years is, like, gonna be here, like, tomorrow. Right? And so I went to Philly about this time last year, and it really seemed like they were making really long term decisions, especially with their sportsplex all being in one area, let's say, as an example.
Yeah. Is five years really enough, or is that just because that's kind of where the job sits? Like, how how far out does the city really need to be thinking in your expertise? Because when I hear five years, it just
Five years is just Yeah. Five years is just the the initial component for the strategic plan that is dialed in here. Strategic plans, especially in economic development, honestly, are are normally need to be updated every three years. Five years is honestly too long. A lot of things can happen in the community in between that time for existent.
For example, you know, if you were doing an economic development plan and you did it in 02/2019, expected it to last, you know, five years or three years then COVID hit, you know, the market tells you what you need to do and and and in that particular instance, you know, all things kinda changed. So, you know, you you make the best plans. Now when you talk about planning and working with planning and and zoning and and looking out future at a city and determining, okay, what goes here and what is the next phase of this? You gotta look out at least ten, fifteen, twenty years. You know, one of the projects that I was a part of early on, when I was on the private side, I was really big in public private partnerships in creating those and, was a project called, SkySong.
And SkySong is is a center for innovation in Scottsdale. But when we first started, it was a dilapidated old mall site, and it was 42 acres on the South Part of Scottsdale. The mall was in a bad state. The city owned it, and they were looking for a way to redevelop it. And and it started with that in creating the public private partnership with a private developer, Arizona State University, and the city of Scottsdale, which created the development, which is now home to over a million square feet of class a mixed use development.
And I I think last I heard, it was about 52,000,000,000 worth of economic impact over the last fifteen to twenty years. So it is and it's the center for entrepreneurship, and it's tied in with with ASU. So, you know, great success story there, but honestly, it started, came out of the ground phase one and phase two, and then the recession hit. And it yeah. I think it stalled out for through the recession and then boomed.
And like I said, today, it's it's it's well over a million square feet of of mixed use facilities, and it really kinda reinvigorated that entire area. So you while you start today and you have a vision or a plan and you you try to to accomplish that, there's a lot of variables, of course, that come into play. So it's you know, everything that you do, you do long term. One of the things that when I was so the very first company that I started work for was I got I got started with a national architecture firm. So and in that firm, when I walked into my director's office, he had all of these pictures on his wall of all of the, you know, projects and articles and things that he'd he'd done and been a part of, and you see him in front of, you know, some some dated buildings even at the time, you know, and and he said, this business, you need to understand that at the end of the day, everything that you would have built will come down, become dated, and be be torn down and redeveloped all over again.
So just accept it, expect it, and thrive in the constant change that is our market. So, you know, it's it's accepting change, and and that's one of the things that's really, you know, for me, very interesting about Virginia Beach is it's a right mix of both redevelopment of the existing product and the development of the of the existing greenfield space that exists here and and kind of taking this to the next level and and using the tools that are available to us in Virginia to accomplish those goals economically for the businesses and for the community itself.
It's one of the things so Virginia Beach, largest city in the in the state of Virginia. Yeah. We're the it's it's just no. They're the the big dogs that that that that carries a lot of weight. So then now you're the new guy that comes in, but you bring a lot of weight yourself in terms of, like, can you touch on some of this stuff that you worked on while at Scottsdale?
I mean, you you guys it's some pretty interesting backstory and some some big things that you worked on.
Well, you you know, there's a couple of pieces. Yeah. If we're talking about projects, that's one thing, and and Scottsdale was one of them. And then, of course, reinvent reinvent creating more of a focus towards tech in that space that had traditionally been kind of old retail was a part of it. But if I can back up even further, you know, my my story is interesting from the standpoint.
It is something that a lot of people don't know is is that, you know, I started my career. Now came to Phoenix and, like I said, had wanted to be there since I was a kid, and I got an interview, one or three, with this large architecture firm on their national marketing side. And and so at the end of the interview, it was my my first interview, and and they were you know, did it. And then they asked, you know, well, do you have any questions? I said, yeah.
Where can I start? And and they said, you know, well, you know, person interviewed before you, another person is after you. You know, we'll get back to you tomorrow. And something happened to me in that moment, and I was I was sitting there thinking to myself, I may not get another chance. Like, this I've only got so much money.
And and so I'm gonna make this less. So I I actually sat and and said I don't recommend doing this. But I said that that's fine. I'm not leaving till you give me the job.
And Security. Security.
And they they as I said, now listen. I'm not crazy. Yeah. And then I got you gotta preface it with this. I you know, because, of course, they gave me the look that you probably just had this now.
But the the fact that I know is I accept and said, listen. Since I was 12 years old, one of the high degree at High Degree Canyon, fell in love with the state, I'm one of three people that you chose to be here interviewing for this position, which means, obviously, I'm qualified. The difference between me and everybody else is I want it worse than anybody else that walked through that door. I will, you know, make copies. I will clean bathrooms, make me coffee.
I do not care. I just want a chance to make a difference and be a part of this community and be here and and do do good work for for you. You know? And it took them a a little bit to convince them that I wasn't crazy, but they actually gave me the shot. Ironically, it also changed the way that I I focus and how I manage because that next Monday, they had the all office, all staff meeting there in Phoenix, and my boss stood me up in front of the entire group, is about a 20 architects and said, everybody, this is Christian Green.
He's our our new recruit in national marketing. We don't know what he's gonna do, but we expect great things. And that was a heck of an introduction for my my career. Next two hours, I sat in front of a a computer like everybody else does, and then he called me into his office. And be careful what you ask for, I guess.
He he says, so what are you gonna do for me? And I was like, well, there was a a job description and, you know, and and so I figured, you know, something that he he he goes, I hire people for their talent. He goes, you? I hired because you had more gumption in you than anybody I'd ever seen and for your talent. So he goes, here's the deal.
You have two months to figure out what you're gonna do for me. I will give you some ideas of what I want based off of your experience. But in two months, you will pitch to me what you're going to do for me and this company. I hope it's good. My mindset, my entire way of managing, and my my entire style of of being is very much comes from that moment.
You know, I went home and my my my future wife asked me, you know, how was your first day?
I because I said her, I said, I'm scared to death.
I told her the story, and she was like, well, isn't this, like, the dream? Like, this is what you want. Right? You get to create your own path. And and, you know, you just have to figure out what that is.
And and he gave me some ideas. You know? He said he's got 18 offices. Business attraction is is kinda splintered, and and so with my strategic background sitting there and doing the research to determine where the best projects were and align people and looking out, like you said, past the five year mark, you know, and understanding, okay, in those 18 offices, where are the projects that we focus on and and doing that. And two months later, I'd already had the idea and was already pretty much running with it, but I pitched it to him and and and he added something to it, which was which was basically that I would be the person responsible for identifying all of the main projects that the company would be pursuing based off of the different market sectors and the certain 18 offices and pursuits and identifying that piece.
And then from that perspective, it was working with the business attraction teams and marketing teams to get in front of those clients early on. And and so did that, and he threw in there that I was the project lead on all projects, $250,000,000 and above. And so anytime that there was a project that we were pursuing at that time, that was over $250,000,000, and that would be about $500,000,000 today in in rough rough numbers for construction value. I was flying out and leading the teams to to win those. So fast forward, five years later, he leaves.
And three months later, he calls me from the company that he's at, which is one of the largest construction companies in The US. And he says, it's broken, and I need help. And so I came in. I was identified as leadership executive leadership material. Went through a year of training in that regards and ended up leading leading the West Coast, specifically Arizona, California, Nevada, and parts of Oregon, and leading teams in pursuits, and then in in managing projects.
And on average, manage projects about $2,000,000,000 of construction projects annually. So that's where that came from. So it was identifying, looking out ahead, and then managing those projects with with some of the, basically, the municipalities, large projects, and development projects in that area.
We can name the episode that Christian Green, the dog that caught the car.
I, know, I love what I do. I love building. I I I I love the idea of of seeing something as it is and and also seeing what it might be. And and so for me, it's it's it's working with people and understanding. My grandfather, you know, he sat there and he told me when I was younger, you know, if you wanna be a success in life, you need to be a conduit to somebody else's success.
And he said that if you do that, then successful will automatically happen. All you have to do is not focus on you. Focus on helping other people, and things will happen. And and it's led, it's been a a major focus of, my entire career. That's kind of my mantra, and, and it's benefited me greatly.
I've I've had the great opportunities to to do some really cool things, you know, and and be a part of some great teams. You know, realigning and and and creating a team environment that's focused on on on lifting each other up and accomplishing goals is has always been kind of where I like to live, where I exist. Creating a team here, which is a great team. This the group here in economic development and the city overall is amazing. You know, I I, you know, I I told my my wife when I was, you know, in the interview process to go, if, you know, if I land this, I'll you know, this is I'll be dangerous with all the the tools that are available here to win work and the team that is here, you know, from everything from business attraction, which, you know, this department has been retooled, I believe, in in three strong factors for success for economic development, which is strong business attraction, strong business retention and expansion, and then strong marketing communications.
And creating that that dynamic, separating out those teams, and then but they're they come together, they're accountable for to each other as well.
One of the things that's that that I I the backstories that I really like about yours is, like, we had a chance to talk a month month ago, I guess, and I was like, yeah. We got some really cool stuff that goes on at Virginia Beach, and you it is the magnet for the rest of the state. And you're like, Tim, you know, I've I've lived through three through three Super Bowls. You know? There's only so many cities in The US that can host a Super Bowl.
Yeah. Yeah. And so, I mean, like, that has to be huge amounts of pressure to make sure that goes.
It is, but I you know, the Super Bowls and and events and and things, those are are huge, and you use those to your advantage. No different than what we can do here. Mean, you know, the dome, you know, it's about the community and and having that community and that spirit and that vibe, that sense of place, you know, and connecting. You know, it's you know, use the tools that are available to you. They said Virginia Beach is has got an arsenal available to it through the BBDA when it comes to which is the Virginia Beach Development Authority and and the ability to work with companies to bring them in and and incentivize them in certain areas as long as they fit certain criteria.
You know? And then working with with tourism and and the CVB, you know, in in those other markets, was over economic development and tourism. So, you know, marrying the those those components together, and we're doing that here, working with with the CVB here, which is the convention of visitors bureau. Sorry. I'm using acronyms there.
New thing to to create that that vibe, that sense of place. One of the things that, you know, a lot of communities suffer from is is is the brain drain. We we we have great students. We have great young people who are here, but they graduate and go elsewhere. And some of them boomerang and come back, but part of it is is is creating this dynamic where we are working together with our universities and our higher education partners like ODU or or Virginia Wesleyan and creating that dynamic where we're helping them connect the local businesses here to thrive and and and stay and keep that that that sense of place and that connectivity here.
You know? And the Virginia Beach is one of the strongest defense communities in The US. And being able to tie in with that with the infrastructure on fiber and data and the redundancy there and the the, you know, the cable systems that exist across the Atlantic and everything to connect us from the information and infrastructure components is really cool as well, able to tie that in. You know, I just think that that tech in Virginia Beach and being that that next level and kinda seeing that from the ground level where it's at right now to where I think it can be in the next, you know, ten, fifteen years, that's super exciting as well. The opportunities here are so great.
There's no way I was gonna miss it.
I I agree, and I think that that's what's I appreciate about you you have to have that vision. You have to have the team. You have to be, you you can't be afraid to take those chances and take the swings, take the shots. So from that standpoint, I'm super bullish and optimistic about the things to come because I can't imagine that to get, like, a waste management to build a golf tournament to get a Super Bowl I mean, you have to I would assume that you would have to put in some sort of proposal, some sort of vision in terms of before they come to you and say, yeah. Hey.
Let's do this. So you bring that experience to to Virginia Beach.
Yeah. You'd mark it years in advance working with with them at and for instance, in Scottsdale with the Super Bowl, there's a, you know, the ESPN experience. I was involved in reenvisioning and and and the the creation or not the creation, but the redevelopment of the Scottsdale Civic Center, which had to be complete before the twenty twenty three Super Bowl. Ironically, I wasn't there when it was finally complete. I was actually in Glendale where the Super Bowl actually was at that time.
But in the it was so many years ahead. Normally, it's about six to eight years beforehand that you find out that you're gonna be hosting the Super Bowl or something like that. So you have time to prepare, you know, and and plan. You know? And there is a big difference between being the host city for that kind of event and being the, you know, the the, you know, being the city where a lot of people come anywhere.
So that was one of the things that I was tasked with in Glendale was the fact that that while Glendale had the arena and the stadium, the deal was is that most people went to Glendale, saw the the sports program or the concert or anything like that, and then they left. They didn't they didn't extend their stay. They didn't they quickly egressed and ingressed out of the area and and were back home. And so the idea was and I was recruited specifically for building out the entertainment sports and entertainment area. So we started looking at that many years beforehand to to try and say, okay.
What what's it gonna take to create an area of experience? And that's when I see, like, you know, the the dome and and the wave park and, of course, oceanfront in that entire area, you know, and then the connectivity to that, you know, and and creating that that whole vibe and and working with the development community to to make that come to fruition, that's super exciting too. You know? I mean, that's that whole area in the next fifteen to twenty years is gonna be amazing.
I'd heard always heard that when Jacksonville got the Super Bowl, they didn't have enough what do they say? Butts and beds. They didn't have enough hotel rooms. Heads and beds? And so heads and beds.
Yeah. So they, like, had to, like, bring on, like, cruise ships for people to stay in because they didn't have enough hotel rooms for this role because of how much. So, I mean, that that that alone, you have to think about that from the attraction standpoint. Do you have enough opportunity you know, places for people to stay? It's just wild to be thinking about.
I'm I don't think I've ever been to Arizona. I've been to Atlanta many times, but, like, you you know, you don't think of do you have enough hotels within a vicinity? You know? Like but it's a it's a real thing from that perspective.
Well, and you've got this thriving hotel area there along oceanfront, and then, I mean, town center is amazing. Right? I mean, to think that this was the brainchild of somebody just twenty years ago, and now today, you know, this is this is a main thriving commercial area, everything for for the entire region, you know, driving traffic and and, you know, and it's still growing. You know, there's there's development happening all around here that, you know, is is is makes it so invigorating. And then when you look at, you know, long term because I believe in in how do you connect spaces.
Right? I kinda take an urban planner approach to economic development from like like I said, I can't get the the builder designer out of my my mindset. So, you know, when you look at, like, things like the Virginia Beach Trail and the connectivity along that existing where you you have the rail the old rail system from Norfolk all the way through to the beach area. And and seeing that, you know, that way to sit there and connect, you know, the beach to town center to to Norfolk and the rail the the rail system there, you know, and and the use of of, you know, electric bicycles, for instance, to connect people along that way. I see that as possibly like a, you know, the BeltLine in Atlanta as probably a good project or something to look at and say, okay.
This is what this could be, which was a huge tool for redevelopment. You know? And and so taking that, being able to to connect workforce and affordable housing, we just worked with Ruthie and and everything in her team on the affordable housing front, getting a grant work for attainable housing through the VBDA so that we can incentivize mixed use or multifamily so that we can redevelop areas with higher density in Virginia Beach so that people can live and work in Virginia Beach because affordable housing is probably one of the biggest issues nationwide across the board. It's not a Virginia Beach specific problem. It's it's an all over the place issue, but it's one of the things that that, you know, it's good to sit there and be in the city that's so forward thinking that they they looked ahead to find what that solution may be and implemented it in a short time frame.
See about this. That was presented to council in my, I think, my second week here. I've been here for three months. It has been through council, approved, and is now adopted in that time period. And that's that says something about how great the city is in in in in time frames and getting things done and accomplishing the goals that are needed for its citizens.
So
Yeah. All this stuff is super important. If we in terms of, like, how it works together, I mean, I I'm curious what your take is. You were really, really have played a big part in building the tech community in Arizona. Yeah.
And and so in doing so, you need to ensure that quality of life is a big part for a company to look at before they decide to to relocate. So what did you experience when you were building that tech community?
Well and and I'm not the grand pooh ball of awesome. Just to be clear, it wasn't a it was, you know, it was an entire team that that brought that to fruition, but I'm really good at bringing the business thought process into into you know, cities are really good at saying, why I want this. But to to to cross the gap to make that make sense to a business person is different. You know, a city can win all day long, but doesn't mean that it makes sense. You have to make the the business case.
So I'll I'll be honest. I I I look to do the same thing that happened there here, which is it was like taking candy from a baby, to be quite honest. Well, we have a a a what we consider in Virginia Beach, a a high cost of living. High cost of living as respect to what? New York, Boston?
Right. These are all areas that people live and work and they you know? So for me, it's making that that business case. Right? And so it's it's going into those markets like New York and Boston and meeting with those companies.
So if I could back up even my business attraction teams, the difference is when we talk about taking a private side approach to a public entity, it's literally about saying so my teams are responsible. They have top tens in every single sync market sector that that Virginia Beach and the economic development strategic plan has identified as market sectors that we're gonna pursue. So they have top 10 companies that they're pursuing. And for every one of those top tens, they have two backup companies. And what I found is in my teams is is that we are not waiting for our regional or state partners to bring us companies.
We are specifically targeting companies that are growing, companies in market sectors that we want here, and then we are pursuing them. We are hunting them. We are not shotgunning. We're not waiting for anybody to bring something to us. We're hunting it.
And that's kind of the pry when I say that private side approach to a public entity. What happens there is in the first year, they turn and burn through those top tens pretty quickly until in a year, they normally have a fairly developed top 10 list of real companies that are looking to grow and expand somewhere in this area. And then it's about being one, the first on their own mind and having that relationship with them to start driving and telling the story. And and so doing that and in doing so, one of the easiest things to do is to go into a market like New York. And and so the pitch would be something similar to to this.
Listen. You know, I appreciate that you wanna be in New York or Boston or wherever you're at, and you have, you know, your headquarters here. You employ over 200 people in this this giant office building here, and that's fine, and that's dandy. But what if I was to tell you that I can knock 20% off of your bottom line? The thing can make you 20% more profitable if you keep your offices here, reduce your footprint in New York, and move your workforce to Virginia Beach.
Your your people who are living in a 400 square foot box, everything will then be able to sit there for
the same amount of money,
have a three bedroom, two bath house near the beach, and they will thank you for moving them to Virginia Beach, and we will welcome them here and you. And we will help facilitate the process to get you through the planning process into construction, through construction, and operational. And then we will help you with talent attraction through our partners at the universities and things like that and connecting you to the community so that you're a part of it because we want you to be a part of the framework and the the dialogue that is Virginia Beach. If you do that, if you go and you tell that story and you craft your message and your people are having that discussion, it's very hard to argue. It
it's Yeah. And you'll see, this summer, take a drive through Sandbridge, how many New York, New Jersey license plates as they travel down here for their week vacation. Yeah. It's it's stunning.
Well, one of the funny things. So one of the most effective tools that we found in recruiting companies out West was having you know, at every hotel, you have the information channel. And on that information channel, having a video that is basically welcome to Virginia Beach, you know, we want just to be more than just a destination for you to do vacation, but a place for your you and your people to live and work. Wouldn't it be nice if it was not just you, know, coming here to visit, but to actually live and be a part of this community full time? You know, visit us at, you know, yes virginiabeach.com for more information.
And, you know, in a quick thirty second spot, you know, you know, focusing on all the good parts and maybe, you know, some bullet points about, you know, the business community and things like that. And then the action item, you know, really was like, it was very easy to sit there, and it was an easy way to communicate directly with those business CEOs that are here.
One of the things that's coming up is the StartUp World Cup hosting, that in Virginia Beach. So, super grateful for your support there.
Yeah. We're looking forward to that.
August 21, we'll, be bringing in as many founders and support organizations and investors as we can. What what's your message to the to the startups, you know, when they when they come to town? And
You know, this is where you wanna be. Right? When it comes to to a community that thrives and and and is willing to thrive, you know, the the message and get things accomplished for the entrepreneurial community. We've got an entire staff of people here on the business retention expansion team that are working specifically towards driving that initiative. We've got one person who's responsible for companies that are 25 employees and over.
And then we have the Hive here, which drives it's kind of our center for entrepreneurship led by Henry and his team where we provide tools and mechanisms and and and classes for the entrepreneurs, so connecting them to the resources here. And then from a tech perspective, you know, there's no better place in in Virginia to to kind of have that connectivity to all of the different resources here. Defense companies are always looking for tech talent and and also for the entrepreneur piece. Right? So that's what I think is really kinda key for Virginia Beach, being able to create that that mechanism, that connectivity to the tech community to to be successful.
Is he muted?
He himself he calls himself a tech guy too. Yeah. Can't hear it. He's talking.
Much much like you. Yeah. Like, we have I've got the the planes from Langley that are flying over. Yeah.
It happens. Military town.
You know? Yeah. I tell you. You gotta love it.
So you you called yourself the fixer.
Yeah.
You know, as a as a former journalist myself, you know, you can't say words like that,
and don't think that I'm not gonna poke the bear
and figure out a little bit. But so where do they have you fixing here? Like, what, like, what what is the fix in Virginia Beach that is kind of like what what what's the expectation? Or or, you know, what was that pitch that you had two months for? I know it wasn't for here, but, like, what would be that pitch that used that you told us when you got the gig from two months for two months way back when when you talked yourself into a gig.
You know? What's what should people expect from mister Christian Green?
Yeah. So like I said, it takes his private side approach to a a public entity, and and the fixture is is literally from a standpoint of of realigning a city's goals and the an economic development department to to drive towards a metrics and accountability that, you know, you can create metrics and accountability and then, you know, half the time, these strategic plans end up on a shelf, on a desk somewhere, and they're not implemented. And and and that's not what I bring to the table. We use the strategic plans to kind of align things, figure things out. And then, like I said, from my perspective, it's taking that same that same goal oriented perspective on the private side to accomplishing that those goals.
So driving the team to accomplish those and making them accountable. So to each other. So business attraction is responsible for assisting business retention expansion with two of its strategic goals and the same with business retention expansion. And just so you know, I make the team pitch what their measures measurability and accountability is to each other, to me, and to leadership. So when I when I come in, normally, what I'll do is I'll say, okay.
Here's the strategic plan. You know, I need you to define what your top tens are. I need you to be, you know, on that side on business retention expansion. You know, it's identifying those those top companies that we need to be meeting with. And then it's, okay, how many do you need to be meeting with annually?
What other goals are associated with that? And then making the team accountable to each other. So business retention expansion is actually responsible for providing five real leads every single year to business attraction. And that way because they're meeting with the existing companies. Right?
So no one has a better understanding of companies that are already here who know other companies that might benefit from that. And and so business retention expansion will go and tell business attraction. Listen. You know, I met with x company, and they said that, you know, this company y, you know, is looking to expand. You need to sit there and and get in front of them and do that.
And then business retention expansion is responsible for making sure that we are taking care of in the transition from an abstraction project to and it goes through construction that they are doing the appropriate handoff, the business retention expansion so that they're successful in that transition and having that relationship to make sure that from from from the beginning of the process for bringing them in until in in convoluting them into the framework and the fabric of Virginia Beach that we're taking care of those businesses and those companies and those people from from the beginning to all the way through their fruition of their existence here.
Yeah. One thing that I hope that you're able to really drive home as you come here is, like, I think that our region we are everyone says it. Oh, we have the beach, and then you can drive to DC. You can go to the mountains or whatever. But we have tourism.
We have ports, and we have defense, and we have all this stuff. But I the thing about it is that we we've had life so good for so long that we have lost that sense of urgency. You know? And it's just like, we just continue to cruise down easy street, and I was like, I would love it if we just had, like, intentionality and an an urgency to go with that strategic vision could really, really propel this region in ways we've never seen before.
Well, and, like, when I coming in here, one of the things that, you know, I that measurability and accountability is part of it. Right? And and so it's it's sitting there and being able to say, listen. Where I came from every single year, we were responsible, and my team, their goal and business attraction was to create a thousand new jobs tied specifically to their effort and a billion dollars in capital investment every single year. And that was their job, and that was their focus, and that's what they did.
And then we measured it, and then we reported back out to council and to the community where we were at in accomplishing that goal. We're not at that level here yet. That's we baby step into what that can be. But, you know, that's what the team pitched to me was what their goals are in business attraction, where they wanna be, and where they think they can be. And then we we take it and we measure it and we see, okay.
What does that look like? What does success look like, and how do we accomplish that? And also from a standpoint, you know, when I meet with people, you know, life can can can do weird things for you. And and so, you know, when I meet with people, I I ask them two things. I go, what's your five year plan?
Where do you wanna be in five years? And then I ask them, where do wanna be in five years personally? Not that I can control what happens to you personally. That is not the point. But I need to marry your professional goals with your personal at least a little bit to make it realistic, you know, and drive that.
And and the part of this is is that we're doing life. You know, the fact of the matter is is that whether you like it or not, you have a work family. And that work family, we're around each other more honestly than we are with our own families. And so creating a dynamic and an environment where people want to be there and that they feel supported and that that they're focusing in on the that they have somebody that's focused on their growth. You know?
And so what I'll ask is, okay. You know, where do you wanna be in five years? Is that, you know, my level? Do you wanna be a director? You know, where are you at now?
Is that realistic? And if so, what do I need to do in your career to help you establish where you're going, where you're gonna be so that you feel like your your personal and professional goals are being matched, you know, and creating that environment and letting them know, okay. This is what I'm going to do. This is the training I'm going to sit there and provide to you so that you can get to that that spot professionally. Personally, I can't change what's going on personally.
But the fact of the matter is is is that it helps me to understand and kinda guide and understand where they wanna be so that and and also kind of identify what pitfalls may be in there. Right? If a person is is in their first year in in the career and they wanna be director in five years, they better not plan on having much of a personal life. It's you know, I mean, it's just realistically. I you know, and so, you know, having that discussion is are your goals I'm not saying you can't do it.
I'm saying here's some areas where there might be, you know, room for you to maybe look at this with a little more open. Don't sit there and have your blinders on is one thing that one of my mentors used to sit there and tell me. But, you know and and that seems to have makes a difference in in at least in my office. I tell people, don't expect you to be with me forever. I but I enjoy watching you grow and learn and expand in your career, you know, and and and seeing where that takes you.
You know? And and their success is my success.
Yeah. You gotta you gotta get your reps in. You gotta take the stairs.
Yep.
So many people wanna take the elevator to the top, and you gotta
Not everybody's running six miles dating you. Yeah. Yeah. That is true. But I want it.
Yeah. What, now that you've been here a couple months, what Is there is there a go to meal, a go to place that like, you you you talk to your family back west, and you're like, man, as soon as you get here, you gotta I gotta take you here, or we gotta have this particular meal?
Watermen's is one. I mean, that's that's that's the the of course, the, you know, the big one there. And and, you know, honestly, I, and my family knows this. My first few months, I'm pretty much all in. Like, I am dialed in working, you know, pretty much nonstop.
It takes about six six months for me to come up out of the out of the the sticks and get out. So, you know, from that perspective, most of my most of my engagement, most of my activity is is work related, to be quite honest. I I think that that, you know, what, twelve hour, fifteen hour days are not unusual for me. I I come in early and I leave late, and, actually, the staff has to remind me. So I've got a a great group of people who who make sure that I'm I'm doing well.
How's that for a non answer? So I don't don't get out. How's that?
That's well, that's one of
the things Yeah. Was a little wiggle.
You know? We're trying to get to the bottom, though. It's just like because we don't have a professional sports team. We don't have you know, we you know, what is the thing that we can call ours that, that we can continue to attract people? And it's just shout out to one of our old colleagues, Jim Carroll.
You know, like, we're at the end of the cul de sac. So, like, we gotta bring something and showcase something to make one of people come down to the end of the cul de sac to visit us.
Well, like I said, I I look at Virginia Beach, and that that I just the whole vibe, the people, the you know, defining that, sharing that, you know what it is. But but it you know, that that made you want to be here. You know? And and there's people who are coming here, you know, to vacation to to be here. And and it's about harnessing that, telling that, and then projecting it out and telling that story.
And, you know, that's place making. It's identifying that and then and then getting it out so that people know what it is that that makes Virginia Beach great. And the CBB does a great job of promoting that from a visitor standpoint. You know? And over the next few years, economic development is going to fine tune that and create those tools for our businesses so that when they're looking out there at talent attraction and those pieces that they have the tool necessary to to tool available to them to to promote Virginia Beach.
And we're creating those videos right now. We actually have a couple that are in the in the works that we're gonna be putting out. And, you know, and that's all part of it. Right? It's it's the vibe.
It's the feel. It's the the mentality of the people and and, you know, who doesn't wanna get on a surfboard every morning and and, you know, or sit there and, you know, kayak, you know, through the rivers and and all the ocean. You know what mean? It's it's Virginia Beach, I think that it discounts itself as a destination more so than it should. Yeah.
I I think it's I look at I look at Virginia Beach as having, honestly, more than a Scottsdale. You know, it's it's it has it's it has a cache to it. It has a vibe or feel, and and it's just getting it out there and and telling that story and showing those unique pieces, you know, that that I think we could do a better job. You know, the those other destinations, they've been destinations for many, many years. And and I think the story has yet to completely be told, but I look forward to being a part of it, you know, and and create that.
One battle that I think is worth battling Yeah. And one of the common answers to that question is a we are home to the orange crush. And, you know, there is another there's another location that's trying to take that title away, and I think that we need to hold our ground.
Tim, you need to do more research on this. They might not be the originator.
No. Well, then we need to take it.
Yeah. I think it's totally us. Hey. I had one that well, it was, like, a month ago. Well, sadly, it's been that long.
Sorry. I am pathetic on that front. But and your thing but, you know and it's good. I It's dangerous. It's dangerous.
Alcohol. I go, you might actually like this.
I I'm and I think so.
You know? It's it's it's tasty. It works. Scary. It's scary.
We need to we need to to stay true, either keep it or take it one of the two, but it's ours.
I think keep it. If it's good, then everybody else wants it, so you might as well take it and make it yours.
A couple years back, I hosted this event called the stay at the start up community address. I think this is the first one that we did. This is, 2015. And one like, we were pulling a bunch of data and interesting facts about the region. And if I recall, Tim, you were there.
You went to all four. Right, Tim?
Yep.
Yeah. Yeah. If I if I recall, Virginia Beach was the fittest city in the country from
what I was thinking about,
like, something. Yeah. And so, like, we talked about the the the trail. Right? I grew up in Northern Virginia, Tim, outside of Buffalo.
Like, we had a crap ton of trails everywhere. Right? Coming here, I feel like they're sprinkled in, but not really. And so knowing that that old trail or that old rail line is gonna turn into a trail, I think it's cool. Pairing that with some of the other stuff at the oceanfront, really cool.
But it's like, there are stories out there that people talk about, but we don't talk about it on a big enough level. And I and it it's just like just just it's like the Ricola commercial. Go to the top of the damn mountain and just scream Ricola. But whatever Ricola is, you know, insert whatever marketing that we want in there. That's what we need to do.
Right? And so it's it's there are really cool assets in in this place that we call home and can't be afraid to to get in front of that and say, hey. This is this is a unique thing because
People ride at their own risk around here. Like, I've seen road bikers on some pretty skinny two two lanes where I'm like I'm like, maybe it might be. I know. I know. I know.
I know. Know we've got I'm good. We're we're and and Oh, yeah. Yeah. I drive in obnoxiously large red truck.
So so, you know, driving that thing on skinny roads with a biker bicyclist, and it becomes super fun because you end up spending a lot of quality time behind somebody in spandex, which is even more fun. So, you know, I I you know? Yeah. I I you know, but but the you know, the this is such a an active community. I mean, you really like I said, you're you're far more active, and and there's so many things to do.
You know, everybody's talking about kayaking or paddling or boating or you know, and and and being at the beach and and hiking, you know, Trashmore and and, you know, like, we literally land we actually got here the day before the 10 inches of snow. So No. We literally were we unloaded the truck the day of the snow storm and got it you know, the stuff truck unloaded in the storage. And the guy there at the storage unit goes, if you guys want anything, you better get to the store now. And and, you know, coming from Kansas, but being in Phoenix all these years, their thing was like, really?
Are you gonna, like, shut down? We get to the store, and they're like, no. We're shutting it down in, like, ten minutes. And, you know, of course, the next day, I take a picture, and, yeah, there's 10 inches of snow on top of my Airstream. And, you know, and I I I send it back to the kids back in Arizona.
They go, yeah, go figure. We move to the beach and get 10 inches of snow. So, yeah, you really have everything. Snow.
Those those are anomalies. Those are anomalies. I've lived here eighteen years. I think it snowed like that three times.
Yep.
So I got a three year three, almost four year old dog. This is the first time she ever saw snow this year. Yep. You know? So, I mean, it's it's uncommon.
And then, you know, it's, like, twenty one day, and then the next day, it's 90. So the snow melts very, very quickly.
Oh, yeah. So you know? Why are you here? Did you get here? How
did I get here? Let's see. I used to work in TV news. So grew up in Northern Virginia. Went to school at West Virginia University.
This is my first job. Came down here. Worked in TV for three years. Liked it for a little bit. Got out of the out of the honeymoon.
Realized it wasn't for me, but I met a girl during that time. She likes it here. His family is from here, so it kinda just stayed. So, you know, it's it was supposed to be a layover town. You know?
It was supposed to be a quick trip, you know, be here for two years and then bailing out to your little toodles, but been here for a while. So It's we're moving.
No. Well and I you know, what do I got here and and my one of my my people here is from Texas. And and, you know, and and my brother-in-law is from Texas, and the the joke is is that, you know, he's it's in his will. He has to be buried in Texas. And and getting him out of Texas is like an act of god.
And and and, you know, I I was talking to her, I was like, so when are you going back? And and and she goes, oh, I'm not. I'm staying here. And and I I was like, a Texas kid saying that they're going to stay here Wow. Forever.
I was like, that's some that's strong. Like, you know, if you you know, and when you think about that, it's that piece. It's Virginia Beach. You may not think about it, but once you come here, it gets a token. And, you know, and I think that that that's part of the play with talent is sitting there and and telling them, listen.
You know, you may not be top of mind, but you come here once and you will not forget it.
Oh, yeah. I mean, just like just j JNA racing, they've created more runners and crew they they do the best running events. It it almost ruins it to go run it run any other race anywhere else because their their races are so in a class of their own.
Was this your cousin that you were talking about, Christian? Your cousin who's from Texas? Is that who you said? No. My brother-in-law.
Your brother-in-law. Okay. Is he a Cowboys fan? You know, I don't He probably is. He probably is.
That's why he wanted to get out of Texas.
It's because it's you know, he's still in Texas. Like, he will not leave. He he he he you can just forget it. My sister moved down there either in Austin. And, you know, she
Austin's a
crazy numbers to get them to move out of Texas. So, you know, it it's a but, you know, I think that, honestly, Virginia Beach has that draw. You know, you just we just gotta tell that story. And, you know, yours, mine, you know, it's it's it's having that that that ability to project that out, create the marketing tools to do that because this is a great place to live and work.
I agree. I agree.
Well, I like the vibe of this conversation. Probably the word choice of the day, if that was the the drinking game, you know, where every time you say the word vibe, you know, take a shot, everything. Did alright. Did you use that word before you knew about the vibe district?
I didn't oh, yeah. I use vibe a lot.
Okay. So because, you know, we have a vibe district.
I know. And it's It's vibe on.
Yeah. They got some good restaurants down there. They do. Tim, I know where Yorkie's is now. It's right off of 264.
Oh, is it?
I drove past it. Yeah. And I was like, oh, that's the sandwich shop that we're supposed
to go to. So Is that Zoe's? Is that?
That's different, I think.
Is it? No. Okay.
This is well, it might be. I don't know. But it's some sandwich shop in Virginia Beach, the oceanfront that we're supposed to try out.
Yep.
So we will. Maybe the three of us will do it sometime.
Let's do it.
Alright. Let's do it. Play I I love it when a good plan comes together. So Yeah.
You get me out of the audience. There you go. Exactly.
Well, thanks for thanks for making the time for this. This is this is great and allow folks to get get to know Christian Green, the guy who's gonna lead us to the well, we can we'll get to the Super Bowl. We will we'll we'll get there.
But I I please, no.
No. No. We'll we'll get to the Super Bowl by driving three
hours more by accident. The
we'll we'll we'll bring another waste management type of, golf tournament. We'll create a a great
golf surfing event.
There you go. Very
cool. Well, guys, thank you so much for letting me be a part of it and, you know, look forward to making some magic happen.
You know