Rising Tide

On Friday, June 27th, the Virginia Peninsula Chamber hosted its quarterly Rising Tide series event, with this quarter’s focus on “Exploring the Blue Economy”. Attendees heard from distinguished executives including Thomas Cross of the Virginia Port Authority; Jay Bernas, P.E., of the Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD); Dr. D. Derek Aday of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS); and Dr. Michael Schwarz of Virginia Tech. 

The presentations highlighted key aspects of our region’s thriving Blue Economy, such as VIMS being one of the largest educational and research institutions of its kind, and HRSD serving approximately 1.9 million people as the nation’s 14th largest wastewater utility. Dr. Schwarz shared that the Virginia Seafood Agricultural Research and Extension Center is nationally recognized as a center of excellence for live feeds and hatchery production technologies. Additionally, the Port of Virginia emphasized its strategic East Coast location, which allows access to 75% of the U.S. population within just two days of transit.