New Regional Citizenship and Branding Initiative to Go Public

December 13, 2006

On the eve of the year in which America will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the landing and settlement at Jamestown, the organization representing all of Hampton Roads' local governments, colleges, military commands and leading businesses announced a major effort to promote regional citizenship.

On Wednesday December 13, the Hampton Roads Partnership unveiled the community's first ever branding initiative: Hampton Roads, America's First Region.

"The need for this designation has never been greater, nor has the timing of its commencement," says Dana Dickens, President of the Hampton Roads Partnership. "With great challenges like transportation, public safety, economic and tourism development, job creation and quality of life enhancement so important to all of our 17 localities, we need to come together by first acknowledging and rallying around something we all share, which is our shared history."

"This is not a short term campaign," says Tom Frantz, an attorney with Williams-Mullen and co-chair of the Partnership. "We want America's First Region to be how people, here and elsewhere, define Hampton Roads forever and for all of our cities, counties, towns and other institutions to pledge to work together to create more historic firsts for our area, the state and nation, as our first regional citizens did 400 years ago."

For more information, visit www.americasfirstregion.com or call 757-625-4696.