Times-Dispatch Staff Writers

The Greater Richmond Chamber named champions yesterday to oversee how the agency and community move forward in the wake of the Crupi report.

Issued in November, the report is a 55-page examination of issues in the Richmond area.

Robert J. Grey Jr. will lead the startup phase of the effort. He is a partner specializing in regulated industries and government relations for Hunton & Williams LLP. Grey could not be reached for comment.

William C. Bosher Jr., executive director of the Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute, will facilitate the process.

Bosher said the chamber hopes to talk with key players in the community to come up with ideas that could become part of a plan. Young people, who will inherit the vision, will be involved to ensure there is ownership, Bosher said.

"This is much bigger potentially than the Crupi report because the Crupi report will be used as one of our sources of data," Bosher said.

During a board of directors meeting, chamber Chairman Theodore L. Chandler Jr. talked about how he and chamber President and Chief Executive James W. Dunn have been contacting elected and nonelected community leaders to discuss how to move forward and who will be involved.

The chamber hopes to announce formal plans in midto late May, Dunn said.

The report, conducted by Texas-based business consultant James A. Crupi, characterized Richmond as an underachieving area that needs to have a vision and a plan.

One of his key recommendations was to form a task force. Crupi said this week that he believed the chamber was "seriously considering" that suggestion.

The report was based on a review of community master plans, statistical reports and several studies, as well informal discussions with residents and interviews with 110 leaders. A group of 40 business leaders and companies paid $150,000 for the study. Media General Inc., which owns the Richmond Times-Dispatch, was among the contributors.

Contact Emily C. Dooley at (804) 649-6016 or edooley@timesdispatch.com.

Contact David Ress at (804) 6496051 or dress@timesdispatch.com.