March Interview
Virginia Business:What interested you in this job? What did you think when it came on your radar? Telly Tucker: Probably a flurry of thoughts, but I think naturally [in] the economic development world, the conver- sation [centered] around Amazon. The generational economic development project has been the center of conversation in economic development circles over the last few years, and the entire commonwealth of Virginia was ecstatic about the [HQ2] win for Virginia. Naturally, that came to mind. I think one of the other things that has always impressed me about Arlington is it’s been a leader, particularly in the tourism industry. It’s been ranked No. 1 in Virginia, I
think, since 2009 ... as far as visitor spend- ing. Arlington has been a trendsetter for the rest of the state. Looking at my background, I spent
time in Williamsburg, and tourism was a big part of economic development strategy there, but at the same time, I’m having the opportunity to work on exciting projects like Amazon, Deloitte and Nestlé USA and a list of other Fortune 500 companies. From a career professional development point of view, it was an ideal opportunity.
VB:What is your philosophy on encour- aging further growth in industries where the region is already strong? Tucker:There’s really been a conscious effort by the county to diversify, and we want to continue to do that. The Deloittes, the Amazons, the legal [firms] — those have helped to diversify the industry base in Arlington. Similarly, there’s a focus now on
making sure that we take care of small business, and there’s going to be a contin- ued conscious effort on making sure we pay enough attention to provide enough support for those small businesses to continue to grow, because they are the backbone of Arlington’s local economy. What’s happening in Rosslyn and what’s happening in Ballston, what’s happening in Crystal City — the staple of much of that is small business.
VB:Obviously, it’s risky to run a small busi- ness, and this is an expensive area to try to have a small business, even if it’s something that’s been growing for a while. How do you
38 | MARCH 2020
support small business in this environment? Tucker: As part of Small Business Week in Virginia, Arlington County is going to participate with the governor in an announcement in May, and it’s going to highlight some of the work that our business launch team has done with small business. We added a new position over the
past year to have more face-to-face inter- action and support. Support for small business comes in many shapes and forms. Sometimes it’s guidance on business planning [and] marketing. Sometimes it’s guidance on positioning yourself in the market for pricing [and] advertising. It’s unique for each business.
VB:How does transportation factor into a thriving business environment? Tucker:Transportation has always been one of the hot topics in Northern Virginia and the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. One of the things that came out in 2018 was the dedicated Metrorail funding that was a regional cross-jurisdictional [effort] … to pull together that plan … [and] other partnerships like the new Long Bridge across the Potomac River, creating a pathway to passenger and freight operations in the region and to the Washington, D.C., corridor, and expand- ing the American Legion Bridge. … Transportation directly affects commerce, and so it’s constantly evolving.
VB:Your predecessor, Victor Hoskins, was instrumental in persuading Amazon to locate in Arlington. How will you help Amazon move forward on HQ2? Tucker: I want to be careful to high- light the strength of the Arlington economic development team. It’s a very high-performing team, a strong team, and one which really operates very independently. Naturally, there’s going to be processes that [Amazon will need] to go through to get approval to build what they’re going to be building, and wanting to make sure all that continues to go smoothly. But at the same time, we want to make sure that we continue to improve the regional partnerships that were developed. The newly formed Northern Virginia Economic Develop- ment Alliance is one. The beautiful thing is, I served with many of the other
economic developers in the region on the Virginia Economic Development Asso- ciation board, and I’ve worked with them for the last 15 years. We certainly don’t want to give anybody the impression that because now we’ve landed Amazon, that somehow we close the door, turn off the lights and everyone goes home. We want to continue to diversify because it strengthens the regional economy.
VB:Do you think there’s a place for a casino in Northern Virginia, as a Novem- ber JLARC study suggested? Tucker: It has not been a focus for Arlington at this point in time that I’m aware of. Certainly no economic developer ever says that they won’t consider oppor- tunities should the opportunity arise, but it really has not been a focus for any of the leadership that I’ve spoken with. … At this point, we are holding pretty true to our economic development strategy. We are now filling the office space that we have and continuing to lower our vacancy rate. Currently, we’re below 15% vacancy, down from somewhere around 23% over the last few years, and that’ll continue to be a focus for us … [and] continuing to support existing small businesses.
VB:You also cultivated regional coopera- tion in Danville, especially with Pittsylva- nia County. What lessons will you bring from that job to this one? Tucker: One of the things I’m most proud of is our ability to work collabora- tively and achieve new heights for our
Photo by Stephen Gosling
A Lynchburg native who started out as a middle school teacher, Tucker is also a gifted pianist who performed at the Kennedy Center for then-President Bill Clinton and fi rst lady Hillary Clinton.
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