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C. Jones Hooks, CEcD
President & Chief Executive Officer

Hampton Roads Economic
Development Alliance
500 Main Street
Suite 1300
Norfolk, VA 23510
Voice: (757) 664-2620
Fax: (757) 623-3081
Email: jhooks@hreda.com

The Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance (HREDA) is a regional private-public cooperative estabalished to aggressively attract jobs to Virginia’s coastal region. (The Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News MSA.) Hooks began his service as President of HREDA on August 30, 1999.

Since his arrival in Virginia, Hooks has received the Leadership Hampton Roads “Courage in Leadership Award” in recognition of his “fearless leadership and commitment to the future of Hampton Roads.” Under Hooks’ leadership, HREDA was ranked among the top 10 percent of economic development groups in the nation by Blane, Canada Ltd., a nationally recognized economic development marketing consulting firm. The Alliance has received numerous marketing awards from the International Economic Development Council. In June of 2004, HREDA became the 27th economic development organization in the U. S. to be accredited by the Council. In March 2005, the HREDA merged with the Peninsula Alliance for Economic Development and named Hooks as President/CEO. After ten years of discussion, two additional jurisdictions, Franklin and Southampton County became a part of the Alliance in April of 2006. The new Alliance covers over 2,600 square miles, 15 cities and counties and represents a population of 1.6 million.

Hooks presently serves on the Opportunity, Inc. Board of Directors (Hampton Roads Workforce Development) and the Marketing Advisory Committee of Norfolk State University. Hooks also serves as Treasurer of the Virginia Economic Developers Association Board of Directors, Governor Kaine’s Economic Development Strategic Committee, the Planning Committee for the Virginia Conference on World Trade, and the Membership Committee of the International Economic Development Council. He is a former founding Board Member of Badgerdog Literary Publishing, Inc., headquartered in Austin, Texas.

Prior to joining the HREDA, Hooks was Senior Manager in the Strategic Relocation and Expansion Services Practice of KPMG in Atlanta, Georgia for two years. During his time at KPMG, Hooks took an active role in site location consulting for Fortune 500 companies. The Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism tapped Hooks to become Project Manager for The Yamacraw Mission, a confidential, high-tech broadband initiative for the State of Georgia.

From 1987 to 1997, he was President and CEO of the Albany-Dougherty Economic Development Commission and President of the Albany, Georgia Chamber of Commerce. During his tenure, statewide developers recognized the commission as one of the most aggressive economic development organizations in the State of Georgia.

In 1994, Hooks was elected to serve as President of the Georgia Economic Developers Association, the largest state organization for economic development professionals in the nation.

Hooks spent six years as the Trident Impact Coordinator for the Department of Defense Kings Bay project at Kings Bay, Georgia. While at Kings Bay, Hooks managed the organization, which was responsible for mitigating community impacts associated with the Navy’s development of the $1.5 billion East Coast Trident Submarine Base. The Impact Coordinating Committee served eight government jurisdictions in two states – Florida and Georgia.

Hooks’ career of 30 years in diverse economic and community development experience began on Capitol Hill in Washington, D. C., where he served as an Assistant for Intergovernmental Relations to the late Congressman Ronald Bo Ginn, GA-First District.

Hooks is a 1975 graduate Cum Laude of the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Business Administration and received a Masters in Business Administration with an emphasis in Business/Government Relations from The George Washington University, Washington, DC in 1977. He is also a graduate of the Economic Development Institute, University of Oklahoma (1990) and a Certified Economic Developer.

A frequent speaker on the subjects of economic development marketing, working with the media, and international economic development, Hooks enjoys sharing “best practices” with economic development groups. He has been a faculty member of Georgia Tech’s Economic Development Institute for the past seven years.

A native of Metter, Georgia, Hooks is married to the former Stephanie A. Weyer of Shreveport, LA. They have two married sons, Carson and Christopher.

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