About Us

In 1977, a visionary group of Norfolk business and political leaders, concerned that Norfolk was suffering from a malaise in its development cycle, met to discuss how to get Norfolk moving again.  The Greater Baltimore Corporation, which was composed of the business and educational leadership of Baltimore, provided the model for the Greater Norfolk Corporation.

Norfolk, like Baltimore, was blessed with a rich talent pool of private sector leaders whose expertise could help government make better decisions and catalyze development.  The desire to get something going; to encourage actual implementation of projects, coupled with the belief that the private sector had to be organized in order to be effective, provided the impetus for GNC’s formation.

Since its inception, GNC has been a partner in Norfolk’s ongoing renaissance.  While GNC’s role is different today than it was at its inception, the real value of GNC remains the same.  GNC continues to be blessed with a rich talent pool of private sector leaders whose expertise and resources can and do make a meaningful difference.

Today, GNC continues to play a leadership role in efforts to enhance Norfolk’s and the region’s competitiveness and quality of life.  In response to the urgent necessity to diversify and grow our local economy, GNC is focused on enhancing Norfolk’s (and the region’s) entrepreneurial ecosystem in order to jumpstart the development and growth of innovation-based businesses and jobs.

To that end, GNC was a champion for the establishment of the Norfolk  Innovation Corridor, which connects our existing clusters of innovation, ODU, EVMS, CHKD, Sentara, downtown Norfolk & the Neon District, TCC and NSU and offers qualifying tech firms a BPOL tax abatement.  A blue-ribbon steering committee has been convened to shepherd efforts to activate the Corridor.

Developing, attracting and retaining talent remains a key priority and GNC continues to advocate for the establishment of a national caliber Academic Career/Technical High School and Adult Workforce Training Center in Norfolk.  GNC is also partnering with Norfolk State University on a Mentorship/Internship initiative, as well as with Visit Norfolk in an effort modeled after the successful Campus Philly initiative to promote the City of Norfolk as a University Town, with a goal of attracting the brightest students, retaining them after graduation and thereby growing the number of well-educated young adults in Norfolk and the region.