Considering the ‘State of the Economy’

More than 175 participants attended the inaugural Economic Summit held at Shenandoah University on Nov. 9. Hosted by the Top of Virginia Regional Chamber and sponsored by First Bank and the Shenandoah University School of Business, the event focused on economic perspectives from experts at the federal, state and local levels.

Tom Barkin, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, said the Federal Reserve continues to do what it needs to do to get inflation under control.

After two-and-a-half years of instability, we’re all ready to get back to normal,” he said. “But what’s normal anymore? I’d say normal is not going back to where we were.”

Tom Barkin, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

Virginia Economic Development Partnership President and CEO Jason El Koubi spoke about his agency’s work to position Virginia as an economic growth leader.

We want to position each region of Virginia as a positive territory, from a jobs and growth perspective, so that everybody living in those regions, and all the businesses that operate in those regions, have access to the benefits of that growth. We’re so thrilled to have a special group of partners here in the Northern Shenandoah Valley who are super collaborative and committed to that work.”

Jason El Koubi, President and CEO of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership

First Bank CEO Scott Harvard led a panel of local business leaders to discuss economic issues from a regional perspective. Panelists included Navy Federal Credit Union Senior Vice President of the Winchester Operations Center Susan Brooks, Howard Shockey & Sons Corporation President Jeff Boehm, and Valley Health President & CEO Mark Nantz.

The partnership between Shenandoah [University] and the [Top of Virginia Regional] Chamber is just so important to our community. Bringing this first economic forum to the community is a significant first step to thinking about the future of this community and to make sure we’ve got the brightest minds in our community working towards planning and anticipating the challenges we’re going to face.”

Scott Harvard, CEO, First Bank

To learn more about the 2022 Economic Summit, listen to the full event Livestream (originally aired on Nov. 9), view articles written by Virginia Business (Nov. 9) and The Winchester Star (Nov. 10), or check out the event program.