MID-ATLANTIC
From Site Selection magazine, September 2008
Infrastructure Grades: Above Average, Mostly
O
ne important, if unscientific, measure of an area's desirability as a project site is the state of its infrastructure. Think of the impression an area makes when its roads are in disrepair or highway improvement projects take eons to complete. The area's work force might be ideal, but workers don't want to sit in construction traffic day after day with no end in sight.
Infrastructure is one of several factors that the Pew Center on the States, an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts, used to grade the 50 states on how well they manage public resources. The grades were issued in a March in conjunction with Pew's Government Performance Project and Governing Magazine. Pew defines infrastructure as how states maintain, improve and plan for future physical infrastructure needs, including roads, bridges and buildings.
The other factors determining states' overall grades are information – how effectively states apply data and technology to measure the effectiveness of services, make decisions and communicate with the public; money – how states manage fiscal resources, including budgeting, forecasting, accounting and financial reporting, procurement, contracting, investments, and debt; and people – what states are doing to recruit and retain strong professionals and offer development and recognition for top-level service. The states also receive grades on how they perform in each of these categories. For more on these definitions and the methodology used to arrive at the category and final grades, visit www.pewcenteronthestates.org/gpp.
A key value the report card delivers is a set of action items a state can take to improve its grade in future reports. The grade itself is just a grade.
"State leaders and managers should look beyond the grade and pursue the opportunity that the report provides: to operate more efficiently and effectively, improve transparency and be more accountable for results," noted Susan Urahn, managing director of The Pew Center on the States, when the grades were revealed.
Report Card Time
Delaware was given a B+ despite not having a capital plan in place. It has a "strong capital planning process," however, and scored well in the internal and intergovernmental coordination and project monitoring categories. "Both the Division of Facilities Management and the Department of Transportation have strong project management systems in place," says the report. "Delaware responds within a week to delays, cost overruns, inefficiencies and quality issues, and in one day to safety concerns."
Two areas the state might want to address are (1) development of a statewide capital plan and (2) establishing a system to track deferred maintenance.
Virginia earned a B+, with high marks in capital planning and average performance in the four other criteria: project monitoring, maintenance, internal coordination and intergovernmental coordination. Recommended action items include (1) developing criteria to prioritize capital project selection; (2) assessing the condition of all state buildings on a regular basis and (3) reducing deferred maintenance of the state's general infrastructure.
In June, Gov. Timothy Kaine unveiled his transportation improvement proposal, which will be considered by legislators in the next General Assembly. It incentivizes more efficient land use patterns by providing dedicated funding for transportation improvements in urban development areas, provides start-up funds to increase passenger rail service, and provides funds for public-private technology projects to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion, among other measures. The bill also includes measures specific to Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.
In April, the governor announced two $5-million Transportation Partnership Opportunity Fund grants for new construction of two sections of the Coalfields Expressway in southwest Virginia. The expressway is a proposed four-lane highway from Pound in Wise County to the West Virginia border. Planners envision a modern, safe and efficient highway through the coalfields that will boost trade and tourism in the region.
Maryland also scored a B+ with capital planning, internal coordination and intergovernmental coordination all considered strengths. Project monitoring and maintenance scored average; no criteria were considered weaknesses. Even with a solid framework of planning and interagency coordination in place, Maryland officials might consider these steps, Pew suggests: (1) create a statewide capital plan that is prioritized according to fixed criteria; (2) improve the integration of a life-cycle approach in asset management; (3) decrease the correction time for delays on overall projects; and (4) target funding to reduce the maintenance backlog in state buildings.
West Virginia has the most work to do in the region, earning a C- with capital planning, maintenance and internal coordination all deemed weaknesses. Intergovernmental coordination and project monitoring got average marks. "A limited staff precludes effective state monitoring of some project elements, so the state relies on contractors to do so," according to Pew.
Recommended actions items include (1) developing a capital plan for buildings that includes detailed assessments of future infrastructure needs coupled with assessments of present needs and prioritizing them according to transparent selection criteria; (2) identifying and establishing a permanent source of funds for roads and bridges and increasing funds for maintenance; and (3) exploring ways to boost the salaries of the teams that monitor infrastructure projects to cut down on staff turnover and ease the recruitment of qualified personnel.
Whether the states take to heart the recommendations included in the report card remains to be seen. Many of them will serve mainly to improve internal processes that are largely transparent to the site selector. But the extent to which the states work towards achieving A's in the next report is the extent to which those states can support new capital projects from private industry.
Rocket Science: Launch Facility Will Benefit Two States
W
hen Dulles, Va.-based Orbital Sciences Corp. opens its assembly, test and launch facility for the Taurus II rocket program at the NASA Wallops Island Flight Facility, the Delmarva peninsula economies of both Virginia and Maryland will benefit. The $45-million project will create about 125 new jobs. Although the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at Wallops Island is in Accomack County, Virginia, about 35 percent of Wallops employees are Eastern Shore Maryland residents.
"Orbital's announcement ensures that Maryland will continue to be a global leader in the development of the next generation of cutting-edge technologies," said Gov. Martin O'Malley at the announcement on June 9th. "This new facility will help generate jobs in the Eastern Shore, building on the brainpower and skills of our people to create greater opportunities and advance the cause of science."
Officials in Virginia, where the facility will be, put a more local spin on the news.
"We are very glad to hear that Orbital has chosen to use NASA's Wallops Flight Facility for testing its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services system," said Ron Wolf, chairman of the Accomack Board of Supervisors. "We support our businesses here in Accomack and will do everything in our power to welcome Orbital to our community and will work hard to help it grow and succeed."
The Taurus II will be the launch vehicle for a joint NASA and Orbital cargo delivery demonstration mission to the International Space Station. If NASA selects Orbital for the cargo missions, those missions would also originate from MARS starting in 2011.
Site Selection Online – The magazine of Corporate Real Estate Strategy and Area Economic Development.
©2008 Conway Data, Inc. All rights reserved. SiteNet data is from many sources and not warranted to be accurate or current.
©2008 Conway Data, Inc. All rights reserved. SiteNet data is from many sources and not warranted to be accurate or current.