Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 5, 1995 TAG: 9508070031
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MEGAN SCHNABEL STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Before he took over leadership of the Philpott Center this week, Gerard Ward was a director of Opportunity Virginia: A Strategic Plan for Jobs and Prosperity, an economic study initiated by Gov. George Allen.
Ward's background in government and industry will be a boon to the Philpott Center, an organization of business professionals that helps small manufacturers, according to Rick Richardson, director of the Governor's Regional Economic Development Advisory Council and co-director with Ward of the Opportunity Virginia study.
"With the experience he has gone through, I can't imagine anyone in Virginia with a better understanding of the process of economic development," Richardson said.
Ward, who was not available for an interview Friday, came to the Opportunity Virginia study from the state Department of Planning and Budget, where he was a senior evaluation analyst. Prior to that, he worked for a year as a research economist at the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia.
Ward holds a master's degree in economics from the University of Virginia and a bachelor of science in systems engineering from Princeton University. During the mid-1970s, he was a business systems consultant with Arthur Andersen & Co. in New York. He later worked for the American Can Co. in Greenwich, Conn., and for a computer engineering firm in Cape Town, South Africa, before joining the Center for Public Service.
"The appointment brings a real economic-development professional into this area," said Ken Wessel, a manufacturing specialist at the Philpott Center. The center needs someone who knows the ins and outs of moving people and money, and Ward's experience makes him that person, Wessel said.
The Philpott center was established in 1992 by the General Assembly as a way to improve the productivity and performance of small and medium-sized manufacturers in Western Virginia. A staff of six manufacturing specialists helps companies with planning, training and quality improvement.
Philpott is part of a national network of 44 manufacturing extension centers and is funded primarily by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
by CNB