News Flash

Dec. 3, 2019 - Hampton Economic Development Director Charles Rigney was recently named one of Virginia Business Magazine's "100 people to meet in 2020." Chosen by the magazine editors, the 100 are described as "interesting, innovative and vital Virginians who make the Old Dominion a more vibrant place to live, work and play."  The December 2019 magazine said that Rigney, who took charge of Economic Development in October, 2018, "came from Norfolk, where he helped land Ikea’s 50th U.S. store. In his first year in Hampton, Rigney’s team helped secure the Virginia Tech Foundation’s plans to build a new Virginia Seafood Agriculture Research and Extension Center. He calls it a catalyst for the waterfront’s planned improvements." Noting that "downtown has a Hilton Tapestry hotel coming and a mixed-use project from the developers of Richmond’s Rocketts Landing," the magazine also said that Rigney is "focused on land around the Hampton Coliseum, where there is potential for a 60-plus-acre mixed-use development, and a former school site that could be repositioned as an industrial park. "