NVTC

NVTC's Four Year Vision for Virginia's Technology Future

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Gov. McDonnell Outlines Virginia's Technology Economy

Ensuring Virginia remains the top state for business and a global technology center

As the voice for the Northern Virginia's technology community, NVTC has worked in partnership with Virginia policymakers over the past 17 years to advance a strong, innovative technology policy framework which has elevated Virginia as a global technology leader and distinguished Virginia as the best state in the nation for business. Central to Virginia's future economic growth will be an environment that aggressively promotes technology, entrepreneurship and innovation within a framework of forward-looking policies that include strong public private partnerships and regulatory restraint.

As the largest technology council in the country, we are business leaders focused on the broad business climate of our state and communities. We are some of the largest employers in the state and include many of the most successful technology companies in the world, as well as hundreds of small, energetic and growing entrepreneurial enterprises.

NVTC's Four Year Vision for Virginia's Technology Future breaks with our tradition of releasing an annual legislative agenda because it is important to promote a long term blueprint for policies and investments that ensure Virginia remains the top state for business and a global technology center. We challenge Virginia's elected officials to focus on three main goals for the next four years, all of which are critically important to Virginia's technology future and will create a foundation that positions Virginia over the long term as a primary beneficiary of global economy recovery and growth

On behalf of its members, NVTC addressed the following priorities in setting forth its 2010 Legislative Agenda:

    Economy: Keep Virginia Competitive in a Global Economy

    Education: Invest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Education At All Levels

    Transportation: Address Northern Virginia's Transportation Crisis


Keep Virginia Competitive in a Global Economy

Virginia's technology industry operates within a highly competitive global economy. Policymakers must ensure that the entire Commonwealth remains competitive and is poised to benefit from today's global economy.

  • Virginia has tremendous opportunity to leverage private sector experience and expertise, boost efficiencies and recognize cost savings by harnessing the power of public-private partnerships as a mechanism to address core priorities including health care, transportation, education, broadband, and technology.
  • It is crucial to Virginia's competitiveness that the Commonwealth have a strong Secretary of Technology with budgetary authority and adequate staffing, direct oversight over technology policy, operation and infrastructure in Virginia, and chief responsibility for promoting technology and broadband as essential to Virginia's role as a global technology center.
  • Through strong and sustained research investments, Virginia has the opportunity to grow its capacity for innovation and to advance technology, to build knowledge capital, to create intellectual property with long term commercialization potential and to create new companies and new industries across the Commonwealth.
  • Policymakers must foster an environment that encourages and supports the formation in Virginia of new technology and IP-based companies, the expansion of our existing technology companies, and the relocation of companies to the Commonwealth.
  • We must ensure the adoption of policies that perpetuate Virginia's status as a global technology center.
    • Protect and promote Virginia's strong right to work laws.
    • Oppose the adoption of protectionist legislation that would unilaterally impose blanket policies on state procurement officials to restrict their ability to procure goods and services from companies that utilize offshore labor. Such policies isolate Virginia in the global market place.
    • Ensure the multi-state Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement governing taxation of e-ecommerce-based transactions provides for a small seller exemption, a single entity for collection and audits and adequate reimbursement for businesses prior to supporting its implementation in Virginia.
    • Ensure the availability and affordability of energy to support our competitiveness in attracting data centers and other large technology business investments.
    • Continue to strengthen Virginia's Internet governance and computer crimes laws.
    • Institute ongoing reviews of Virginia' tax and regulatory framework.
    • Strongly advocate to maximize and leverage federal funding, including appropriated stimulus funds, to support healthcare IT, broadband deployment, transportation infrastructure, alternative energy development and investments in education.
  • We must promote a diverse technology industry base for Virginia and elevate our recognition as the place to be for:
    • Green Technology and Alternative Energy
    • Space and Aerospace
    • Nanotechnology
    • Biotechnology
    • Modeling & Simulation
    • Computers/Telecommunications/ IT
    • Health IT
    • Security and Information Assurance
  • We must encourage and support the formation of new technology and IP-based companies to diversify Virginia's technology industry and generate economic growth.
    • Grow CIT's successful GAP Fund which has earned national recognition for its efforts in encouraging Virginia entrepreneurs and innovative technology start-up companies to locate and grow within the Commonwealth by investing in seed-stage firms and university spinoffs with a high potential for successful commercialization, rapid growth and downstream private equity financing.
    • Accelerate Virginia's one-stop business permitting portal.
    • Increase Funding for Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund (CRCF) to:
      • Leverage Public-Private Partnerships to Build out Wet Lab Space at Universities.
      • Provide for State SBIR/STTR Matches to Anchor Private Sector Research in Virginia.
      • Leverage Federal and Private Funds for Commercialization of Qualified Research.
    • Boost Angel Investor Tax Credit.
  • We must promote the relocation of existing technology companies to Virginia and their expansion to spur economic growth and job creation.
    • Increase funding for Governor's Opportunity Fund.
    • Update Eligibility for Major Business Facility Tax Credits, Other Incentives to Target High Wage Tech Jobs.
  • We must support strong and sustained research investments to provide Virginia with the opportunity to grow its capacity for innovation and to advance technology, to build knowledge capital, to create intellectual property with long term commercialization potential and to create new companies and new industries across the Commonwealth.
    • Increase direct general fund support for state research.
    • Facilitate efforts of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Investment Authority (IEIA) to develop a coordinated research road map.
    • Establish R&D tax credit to promote private sector investments in collaborative research.
  • We must ensure the availability of affordable broadband to every Virginia business and citizen by 2014.
    • Strengthen and provide staff for the Office of Telework and Broadband Assistance. Affordable broadband deployment should be proliferated using public/private partnerships through use of stimulus and other federal/state/local grant sources.
  • We must drive a strategic technology based healthcare agenda that utilizes information technology and biotechnology advances to:
    • Create an improved statewide healthcare system that focuses on better outcomes, lower cost and improved access to preventive care and wellness programs.
    • Drive new healthcare jobs to Virginia through public/private partnerships that leverage the skills and expertise of our companies and our colleges and universities in the area of healthcare transformation and reform.
    • Establish a Center of Excellence healthcare model that places Virginia in the forefront of best practices in the nation.


Invest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Education At All Levels

The growth potential for Virginia's technology industry is limited by an insufficient number of qualified technology workers, and the education system is not graduating a sufficient number of people with degrees in math, science, engineering and technology-related fields. The key to the strength of Virginia's technology economy is correcting the chronic underfunding by the Commonwealth of Northern Virginia's public institutions of higher education, which are accommodating a disproportionate share of the state's enrollment growth, elevating overall funding support for higher education, improving K-12 STEM education and increasing the number of STEM graduates statewide.

  • Improve K-12 STEM Education to bolster proficiency in all students and increase the number of high school grads pursuing technology-related certifications and boost the number of college-bound high school grads electing STEM majors.
    • Provide for Teacher Accreditation Regulations that:
      • Address the statewide shortage of math and science teachers.
      • Ensure all teachers have sufficient STEM proficiency.
      • Develop a streamlined program for grad students who want to teach.
    • Incorporate industry-validated standards for tech knowledge into the Virginia standards of learning.
    • Provide resources for all school systems to establish science- and technology-intensive centers of excellence.
    • Enhanced curriculums that include technology and computer-based learning.
    • Promote more partnerships between businesses and schools.
  • Elevate funding support of Virginia's institutions of higher education in Northern Virginia and increase the number of STEM graduates statewide.
    • Ensure that Virginia schools have funds and capacity to educate technology workforce.
      • Base adequacy funding must be met.
      • Emphasize support for schools with a footprint in Northern Virginia.
      • Let boards of visitors manage schools; no tuition caps.
      • Support Grow By Degrees Coalition goals: 70,000 degrees in 10 years.
    • Encourage students to specialize in STEM fields.
      • Fund TAGs at adequate levels and ensure TAG availability to grad students in STEM disciplines.
      • Increase funding for Virginia Community College Transfer Grant Program; institute stronger preferences for STEM students.
    • Reform Virginia's workforce system to meet the needs of technology employers.
      • Consolidate Virginia's workforce programs and training initiatives and ensure we have strong business community participation.
      • Composition of WIBs should reflect educational institutions, large employers and political leaders.
    • Create special programs statewide to facilitate workforce realignment for older workers and military workers and their spouses.


Address Northern Virginia's Transportation Crisis

Addressing Northern Virginia's transportation crisis in a significant and meaningful way is critical to the growth of Northern Virginia's technology economy and by extension to the long term economic health of the state.

  • New dedicated and sustained funding sources and fair distribution of statewide transportation dollars to Northern Virginia.
  • Continue to advance the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project extension.
  • Expand telework: to help alleviate transportation congestion, implement policies, tax incentives and broadband infrastructure to expand telework in both the private and public sector throughout the Commonwealth with a goal of 20 percent of all eligible positions taking advantage of telework.
  • Increase cohesion within the Northern Virginia Delegation to the General Assembly to enable our region to speak with a strong, unified, bipartisan voice on transportation.