THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 31, 1997 TAG: 9701290091
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: IDA KAY'S PORTSMOUTH
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: 63 lines
A lot of people laughed when they opened the Research Triangle Park, N.C., post office and created a separate ZIP code for it some 30 years ago.
That's nowhere, some said. They're dreaming, others said.
And dreaming they were - big dreams!
They came true, too.
When folks ridicule the notion of a successful place called Hampton Roads, I always remember the day they opened that little post office and think of the skeptics who now reap all sorts of benefits - and problems - from the success of the Research Triangle idea.
How did it happen? It wasn't easy.
Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill - the Triangle cities - are as different as Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Suffolk. Furthermore, each city still is part of a county, another layer of politicians thrown into the mix. In addition, there are smaller incorporated towns within those counties and another bunch of elected officials.
Somehow, the folks pushing the Triangle concept managed to rise above all the complications.
First, there were the former governors - conservatives, liberals and in-between - as well as the sitting governors. (Over the park's early development there were both Democrats and Republicans.) Political differences were put aside when they showed up for Research Triangle Foundation meetings. They had bigger things on their minds.
There were university presidents and chancellors. Traditional rivalries for both money and ACC championships were not important when they were working on the Triangle's future. They called on outstanding faculty members at their various schools with expertise in specific fields to help sell Research Triangle Park to potential tenants.
Then there were the bankers, all competing for money and prestige in the state. Some were known enemies - they even made no secret of their dislike for each other. Yet they were on the Research Triangle team in leadership roles that rose high above personal ambitions.
Other business and industry leaders from across the state also were part of the mix, even though some of them stood to lose their traditional low-wage base and plentiful labor supply if the dream really worked.
All those people pulling together for a common cause really got the attention of the parochial politicians. It's hard to be against something that so many people from across the state believe to be good.
There are some signs that this might be happening here.
Hampton Roads already has regional transit, regional waste management and regional sanitation, plus regional planning. Research Triangle had none of these cooperative bases except a regional planning group, and an airport governed by a board from the various cities.
All of the counties were serviced by different telephone companies, so when you crossed a county line, you were talking long distance.
Actually most of the taxable real estate and construction within Research Triangle Park was in Durham County, but that never even became a big issue either.
Leadership was the key. Politicians and business people who saw beyond their immediate desires to a bigger picture made an effective selling team to attract major companies to the region. They also were important in the selling of the idea to local folks.
Now everybody profits from their phenomenal success. And nobody laughs any more when you mention Research Triangle.