Scot McRoberts serves as CEO of the Virginia Council of CEOs. (Photo by Matthew R. O. Brown Photography)
Scot McRoberts is bullish on Virginia and its entrepreneurs.
“Virginia’s economy is doing great,” says McRoberts, a founding member and executive director of the Richmond-based Virginia Council of CEOs.
McRoberts, and other business leaders on the council have worked with Richmond area entrepreneurs since 2000. The nonprofit council provides business resources, roundtables, learning opportunities and an annual retreat to help business owners hone leadership skills and expand their companies.
He attributes Virginia’s economic stability and growth to strong technology and government sectors. These two, along with other core industries, aid in making Virginia relatively recession-proof and blessed with low unemployment, 2.6% in November 2019.
“Virginia weathers economic cycles better than most states,” he says.
With Incentive Technology Group expanding and relocating its corporate headquarters in Arlington County, Microsoft and Google investing capital and creating jobs in the commonwealth, and the new Amazon campus in the works for Arlington, Virginia seems positioned for continued economic growth in 2020.
Virginia in 2019 was named the top state for doing business in an annual poll conducted by CNBC. It was the fourth time in the 13-year history of the poll that the commonwealth earned top honors. Factors in its favor include the defense spending that makes up close to 12% of Virginia’s economy, a skilled and educated workforce, STEM career opportunities and business-friendly regulations. At the heart of it all, Richmond continues to be an attractive hub for new and relocating businesses.
“Richmond is poised for continued growth,” McRoberts says. “I would hope that the leaders in our localities and our region guide that growth with livability in mind [enhancing amenities such as transportation and outdoor recreation]. That makes it attractive to entrepreneurship, too. That’s one reason we’re attracting new businesses: It’s easy to attract workers to live here because it’s a great place to live.”
While the retail sector has seen a downturn, McRoberts sees strength in health care, logistics, transportation and warehousing and distribution. He says that Richmond has the potential to draw its fair share of technology-based businesses, too. “[We have] the fastest internet connection to Europe, and network access is right here in Central Virginia,” he says. “It will draw more data businesses.”
‘Networking Is Critical’
Change is a constant in business, and it comes quickly. McRoberts warns that CEOs have to keep up with the pace of change in order to stay relevant.
Roundtables at the Virginia Council of CEOs can help bring clarity to participants, according to McRoberts. Business owners realize that the workforce has changed, technology has evolved and the way businesses are developed requires a fresh approach.
“The pace of change is not slowing down,” he says. “It can be overwhelming. It gets more and more difficult for the CEO to see the forest for the trees, and a peer group helps do that.”
McRoberts sees entrepreneurs as visionaries, people who muster the grit and determination to do whatever it takes to see their plans through to fruition. They value the ideas they bring to the table that can solve problems in the world.
“Our CEOs are entrepreneurs who mortgage their house to start a business,” he says. “They are willing to take a risk because they have the drive to [do] something great. Entrepreneurs are creators and are driven to make something that solves problems. All that entails risk.”
The Virginia Council of CEOs had its start in a conversation that McRoberts, who was an executive with the Richmond Chamber of Commerce at the time, had in 2000 with Chuck McCabe, founder and CEO of Peoples Tax. McCabe told McRoberts about the benefits he had experienced in taking part in a CEO roundtable in Northern Virginia, and that was the impetus to McCabe starting the Richmond group and McRoberts finding his way there. “After a few months of incubation at the Chamber, I left with the organization and have led it ever since,” McRoberts says.
He sees his role at the council as being a connector, while the CEOs in the group are coaches for one another.
Henry Clifford, CEO of Richmond-based Livewire, has been involved with the group since 2007. He says it offers “a safe haven to share and learn in an environment where everyone in the room is experiencing the same issue you are.”
In his decades of mentoring CEOs, McRoberts says there are four identifiable traits that entrepreneurs should possess. The first two are vision and tenacity.
“Vision that you can see a better future and a solution to a challenge to bring something great,” he says.
The other two? Integrity and caring.
“Integrity to make the right decision when it’s hard or not in your favor. It all works out in the end,” he says, “And showing that you care about the people involved. It leads to great success.”
These four traits help position entrepreneurs to develop and sustain their businesses, something CEOs must do wisely.
“Growth is a factor of the drive. We have to improve the way we serve our customers and the way we treat our employees,” he says. “Growth is also expensive, and I’ve seen entrepreneurs go out of business because they grew too fast. That’s why it’s important to have people around you to help you see what’s going on in your business.”
