Formerly the president of Virginia State University, Dr. Keith Miller currently engages with doctoral students at the institution and is an AASCU-Penson Center for Professional Development consultant. Dr. Keith Miller also holds board responsibilities with the Virginia nonprofit Richmond’s Future, which stands as a future-focused independent think tank.
Presented to regional leaders in early 2016, the organization in conjunction with the Richmond Times-Dispatch completed a final report that looked in-depth at factors such as economic performance, educational attainment, and poverty and housing affordability. Takeaways from the report include recognition of the Richmond area as one that compares well with similar regions, with only the Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina, region outperforming it significantly.
Despite this, there has been an overall increase in poverty over the past decade, with the number of children living below the poverty threshold increasing by 15 percent. Increasing pressure among those at the margins, renting affordability has declined over that same time frame. This points to serious issues that must be addressed by civic leaders.
The report also pinpoints significant opportunities, including the potential for Richmond to emerge as one of the East Coast’s logistics hubs. The modernization of the city’s port would position it as the state’s second inland port area, one that takes advantage of existing resources, such as Fort Lee, which is the U.S. Army’s Logistics University.
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