ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CHIEF HAS HAMPTON ROADS KNOW-HOW
Hampton hire credited with recruiting several businesses during time in Norfolk job
HAMPTON — Hampton has picked Charles E. “Chuck” Rigney Sr., a name known around South Hampton Roads, to lead the city’s economic development department, officials announced Wednesday.
Rigney, 62, who previously led Norfolk’s economic development office, will begin in Hampton on Oct. 8.
He replaces former economic development director Leonard Sledge, a Hampton native, who resigned last November after serving nearly four years.
Steven Lynch, the city’s senior business development manager, has filled in as the interim director since Sledge’s departure.
In a statement, Rigney said he looks forward to “getting out in the commu-
nity and meeting corporate and residential leaders.”
“The opportunity to be a part of the continuing success of Hampton was really intriguing to me … a tremendous opportunity to join a great team,” Rigney said in the release.
City Manager Mary Bunting said, “Chuck will be able to immediately hit the ground running and expand upon the momentum Hampton has begun under prior leadership.”
Rigney has lived in Hampton Roads since 1969 and attended Norfolk schools.
A graduate of Old Dominion University, Rigney worked 15 years in commercial real estate. In 1995, he joined the Virginia Peninsula Economic Development Council, serving as the assistant director and interim director of development in Norfolk. He also served as director of development in Portsmouth.
According to the city’s release, Rigney’s accomplishments in Norfolk include recruiting new businesses, such as ADP, Tegra, Movement Mortgage and a new IKEA store, being built near Interstate 64, which will span 332,000 square feet.
While in Portsmouth, Rigney oversaw the development of a new “western approach” to economic development that focused on replacing businesses and customers that were lost because of new tolls on area tunnels and roads, city officials said.
Rigney also worked on planning large-scale redevelopment on the downtown riverfront.
Leaders in the business community say Rigney’s familiarity with Hampton Roads area is a plus.
“He has a relationship with all the major developers on the Southside, and he will be able to tell Hampton’s story very easily,” says Caryle Bland, board president of the Downtown Hampton Development Partnership.
Raymond Tripp, who heads the Coliseum Central business improvement district, said with most Hampton Roads cities nearly all built out, bringing in new business can be a challenge.
“Hampton Roads is a little unique. You have seven cities competing with each other. We are right next to each other. We are all fighting for the same product,” Tripp said. “We don’t have a lot of open land like other cities. We have to redevelop it and that is very different when you are building up with undeveloped land.”