More than 50 business leaders attended the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce’s Suffolk Division board meeting on September 9 at the Comfort Suites Harbor View Hotel.   Suffolk Mayor Linda Johnson and other city officials, including Suffolk Economic Development Director Kevin Hughes, attended the meeting and provided the group with an update and insights on the Secretary of Defense's recommendation to close U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) operations in the region.

The Chamber has formed a special task force aimed at addressing the problem on a local level.  Approximately 20 people at the meeting volunteered to join the new task force and will concentrate on a three-part strategy of “reject, retain and replace.”  Suffolk City Council member Robert Barclay will serve as a liaison between the council and the task force.  For more information about joining the task force, contact Dean McClain, Municipal Affairs Director for the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, at 757-664-2560.

At the state level on September 9, Gov. Bob McDonnell spoke at the first meeting of his newly formed Commission on Military and National Security Facilities in Richmond to address the closure.  The Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce has been engaged in this important issue since the announcement on August 9 and is focused on working with our Congressional delegation and all Hampton Roads localities to save JFCOM and its associated missions. 

For more on this topic click the below links.

Wall Street Journal - Sept 29

Virginian-Pilot  - Sept 29

Virginian-Pilot - Sept. 30

Senator Jim Webb Says DOD is "Stonewalling" Congress on JFCOM 

Hampton Roads Partnership JFCOM Resource Library