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Behind the Lines
Pearl S. Buck said, “One faces the future with one’s
past.” Buck, a Nobel Prize winner and alumna of Randolph-Macon
Women’s College, understood the profound importance
of understanding history as a means to securing a bright
and sustainable future. The same can be said for Greater
Richmond’s pacesetting businesses featured in this
18th edition of KLEOS Magazine—Richmond: The Rearview
Mirror.
But it is essential to remember that achieving such excellence
is not always a peaceful Sunday drive. The highways of commerce
and service are, at times, perilous and challenging, forcing
business leaders to navigate their organizations through
times of storm and stress. In the end, those businesses with
one eye on the rearview mirror and one eye on the road ahead
arrive at their destination poised for what is to come.
The examples set by these businesses, ranging from finance
and legal services to education, health care, and not-for-profit
organizations, encourage us all to consider where we’ve
been and where we are. But perhaps most important, their
examples encourage us to ponder how these elements affect
where we’re going next. After all, on the highway of
life, the window to the future is always larger than the
mirror that reflects our past.
We are indeed blessed by a tremendous environment for commerce
in the Central Virginia region. From state administrations
and legislative bodies that believe in free enterprise to
pro-business organizations like the Greater Richmond Chamber
and the Greater Richmond Partnership, we are surrounded by
positive influences that continually strive to safeguard
the road toward distinction and maintain this region as a
better place to live and do business. Please join me in recognizing
true excellence in Richmond commerce as KLEOS Magazine highlights
those groups who have achieved success without sacrificing
the lessons learned by keeping an eye on the rearview mirror.
Also, we’d be honored to hear your comments, so please
contact us to let us know what you
think of KLEOS Magazine.
Sincerely,
R. David Ross, Publisher
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History—A
Work in Progress
As we celebrate the
400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown and our own
fair city of Richmond, the region is enjoying unprecedented
growth and success. Not surprisingly, the river that was
the source of our founding now serves as an important catalyst
in our resurgence as we creatively establish new residential,
commercial and recreational destinations on its banks.
The birth of this new century has spawned many great accomplishments.
Two new major highways, Route 288 and 895, provide us with
much easier access to new jobs, new shopping and new entertainment
venues. The arrival of low-cost air carriers AirTran and
JetBlue have produced the greatest reductions in air fares
of any airport in the country. These new low fares and the
recently completed update and expansion of the terminal identify
Richmond as a world-class community to match our world-class
aspirations.
Through tenacious public will, we continue to make great
strides in the areas of community involvement. The Greater
Richmond Chamber—through Vision 2010—identified
five key focus areas for our region: crime and public safety,
education, transportation, workforce development and workforce
housing. Responses to these challenging issues are being
developed by many groups, including top gun policing in the
city and the counties, which has created a greater sense
of comfort and safety, initiatives borne out of the Chamber’s
Vision Check series and Greater Richmond Challenge, and creative
approaches to early childhood education by Success By Six.
Dedicated teachers and administrators in our public schools
produce increasingly positive results, determined planning
involving all the regional governments has developed a comprehensive,
regional, multi-modal transportation plan and relentless
efforts from a myriad of other organizations from Leadership
Metro Richmond and the Richmond Better Housing Coalition
to the NAACP make our community better.
As the Richmond region eagerly enters its fifth century,
it is experiencing unprecedented growth. It is vital to make
sure that all residents have the same opportunity to participate
if we indeed intend for the whole region to move forward.
Our region will recognize its promise if—and only if—we
ensure the full participation of all its diverse parts. Like
most others in the United States, our population grows not
only in numbers but in its diversity. Many of the companies
and organizations showcased in this year’s edition
of KLEOS have demonstrated their commitment to achieving
an inclusive society. It would not be an overstatement to
suggest that their success is due in some measure to that
commitment. The recently dedicated Reconciliation Statue
in the heart of downtown Richmond is but one example of how
we as a region are mindful of this fundamental premise.
Indeed, we should be proud of our accomplishments and the
success we have achieved, for we have traveled a long and
perilous road. However, not one of us can rest. The task
is not yet finished.
Jon C. King, President & CEO
Exclusive Staffing
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