Inside IALR

Four Years, Fourfold Growth: a Conversation with IALR President Telly Tucker

• Institute for Advanced Learning and Research

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0:00 | 25:04

IALR has grown really fast. But, as President Telly Tucker explains, growth alone isn’t the goal.

In this conversation, Telly reflects on four years as president, sharing what it’s like to lead an organization that’s quadrupled in size, why culture matters more than ever during rapid change, and the real stories that make the work meaningful. It’s a candid look at leadership, impact and what comes next for IALR and the region.

The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research serves as a regional catalyst for economic transformation in Southern Virginia. Our services, programs and offerings are diverse, impactful and far reaching. 

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Rapid Growth Can Break Organizations

Telly Tucker

So I know a lot of business leaders, entrepreneurs, many of them have said to me, if you told me my business was gonna quadruple in four years in terms of the size and the operations and their employees, it could cripple a business. There are businesses that have gone out of business because they've grown too quickly. And um how you manage that is maybe one of the biggest accomplishments that can't be overstated.

Caleb Ayers

Welcome

Four Years In The President Seat

Caleb Ayers

to another episode of Inside IALR. Thanks for being here. Thanks for joining us. Uh and today we get to celebrate Telly Tucker officially being IALR's president for four years and a couple months. Telly, thanks for being here. Thank you. Yeah, you've been you've been here a while now. That's like, you know, you're only a year away from being vested in the Virginia retirement system. You got all kinds of, you know, at that five-year mark, all kinds of important things. How are you feeling after four years?

Telly Tucker

Most people, when you're four years old, you're just getting ready to go to kindergarten, right? Like so maybe I get a pass for a few more years before I uh No, it's been it's been incredible. Um it doesn't feel like four years. It's gone by so quickly. Um and I think much of that can be attributed to how busy we are, um, how many different projects we are simultaneously like administering and managing and making sure we we uh deliver on. So it's been really exciting. It's been a challenge, it's been a learning opportunity, and um that was one of the things that attracted me uh to the role. It was going to be different than uh my my previous experience in solely economic development as a practitioner. Um it just challenged me to grow in ways that um many times you can't plan for, you can't go to school for. Um, you really learn in the fire, so to speak. And so it's been really rewarding. Can't say enough about the staff, the team that's around me. They're incredible and they they put in the work every day and every evening and uh weekends and holidays sometimes as well. And uh and lastly, we got an incredible uh support mechanism in our board, our board of trustees. Um business owners, um, are retired business owners, uh leaders, executives in their own right. They understand the sensitivity and the nuance around behaving in the governmental space, but also emulating hopefully the speed, the nimble nature and the flexibility of the private sector at times when we can, and trying to balance to accomplish that economic development and economic transformation mission.

Lessons From Teaching And Development

Caleb Ayers

You mentioned, you know, being different than being an economic development practitioner. How many years were you working in economic development? Just shy of 20 years. Okay. You miss about it.

Telly Tucker

But it's uh There are things that I miss about it. Uh I think the the beautiful thing about like a career progression, and I tell people all the time, you you learn things and you go, I have no idea when I'm gonna ever use this. This is this may be useless information. I'm not sure why I'm doing this. And I think back to even my time teaching school and and my first economic development job. Um, those experiences come full circle. It's incredible how many things that you learn along the way that still serve you well today. Um I never thought that I'd be, you know, at managing an institute that that um has created a middle school CTE program. Well, 25 years ago I was a middle school educator, right? So that that parallel um is just it's not a coincidence, but it but it is ironic.

Caleb Ayers

What'd you learn as a teacher that helps you in this job?

Telly Tucker

Managing people, right, I would say. Varying levels of maturity. Um and uh and and you know, working with an administration, working with parents, learning to balance priorities, presenting information in a in a way that resonates with young people, conflict resolution. I think about you know, in some ways were simple, like the simple things that that really do motivate people and they get their attention, they get them excited about uh programs and learning, those things really have um come full circle and and brought me forward to where I am today. And so we use those in some of the programs that we execute. We use those uh some of the um the management strategy of a of a you know circa 200 employee organization, and then of course the engagement with the community because many of our students, um particularly in our K-12 programs, um we have to influence parents as well, um, and other educators and counselors and administrators about what's important to them and and why uh it's important to for them to be involved in in some of the uh, you know, call it the experiential learning, the the workforce programs that we have today. All those things are are relevant and still very much shape um day-to-day activities in the world we live in.

Caleb Ayers

And you mentioned

Building Culture While Scaling Fast

Caleb Ayers

the almost 200 employees. I know when you started we were more like 50 to 60. Um so talk to me about that. And and I've heard you talk about this some before, but talk about kind of that leading an organization through that level of growth and and increase, both in people and also in programs and property and all you know, all of those things that go with it.

Telly Tucker

So I know a lot of business uh leaders, entrepreneurs, many of them have said um to me, if you told me my business was gonna quadruple in four years in terms of the size and the operations and number of employees, um, it could cripple a business. There are businesses that have gone out of business because they've grown too quickly. And um how you manage that is maybe one of the biggest accomplishments that that is can't be overstated. I say that to say there was a lot of good planning uh that went into it. There was a lot of grace given to people was one of the things we talk about in our uh in our leadership team meetings at times, and then also in some of our staff meetings, it's um disagreements are gonna happen, miscommunications are gonna happen, omissions are gonna happen. It's how you respond to those things that really um I think define the character and the culture of an organization. And so this organization that um let's get to know people, the people that we work around, let's learn as much as we can about their families and their interests and and beyond just the work, because if you know people on that level, um you're more likely to give them a pass when something doesn't go right, right? If we have a if we have a relationship beyond just a transactional nature of the work that we do, when something goes wrong or when somebody forgets to notify you of something that was really important, it's easier to have the conversation with them and say, hey, you know, I really um, you know, wish we could have handled this differently, or wish, you know, in the future make sure that I'm included in these types of communications. But you don't automatically assume the worst about the individual because you know them. You know them as a colleague, you know them on a deeper level, you know a little bit about their background, their family, what's important to them. And then all of a sudden you give them a little bit more grace in terms of the mistakes that we make. And and many of them are unintentional. Um we all make them, I make them. And so my job, part of my job is to model the behavior that I want the organization to um to follow. And so I'm one of the people that that talk about the things that I can do better. We do 360 evaluations. I get feedback from from not only the board, but also from my direct reports uh on things that I can do better, how I can improve as a manager. Um, and when you do make a mistake, own it, um, have some accountability and say this is something that I should have done differently. I've learned from it, and here's how I would like to handle it in the future. It's not the mistake that defines you, it's really how you respond to it and what you um what you learn from that experience. So I try to try to carry that forward. It's helped us in the growth. Um, we brought on a lot of new people over the last four years. Uh, some of them have worked out, others haven't. When we fail, we fail fast, you know, in terms of trying to learn from that and pivot and move. Um, laying out quality um structure, procedures, tasking has been an exercise of growth for us, such that um when somebody new comes into the role and and you can never predict everything that they're gonna run into, but giving them some sort of guide guidelines on, okay, here's the role, here's what we think you're gonna face, here's what you need to be responsible for. Um but giving them some some freedom and flexibility to respond when they see things that maybe we didn't foresee, uh that's helped as well. It's a task keeping up with the names. There's names of so many new employees and interns and everybody else.

Caleb Ayers

Um I think if if you don't know someone's name, just assume it's John. I think we have about eight Johns working here. Or at least a J. Yeah.

Telly Tucker

There's definitely a lot of J's on campus. Uh but yeah, it's it's been um I mean that's part of the excitement though, I think, right? Like if if you know came into a role that was um, you know, I guess positioned and placed by the board to be here to manage the growth that was coming. And I'd much rather be leading an organization that's growing exponentially than one that's stagnant or maybe declining if I had to choose. And so um it's all part of the excitement, it's all part of um making an impact, giving back to this this region, this commonwealth, um, this nation, and the work that we do every day. And I'm I'm really proud of the work that the team has done and um and how they pulled together to make to bring us to where we are today.

Caleb Ayers

What

Time Management And Stakeholder Pressure

Caleb Ayers

do you think has been the hardest part of the last four years for you as the president of IALR? Time management.

Telly Tucker

There's a uh in four years of this kind of growth, there's a lot of stakeholders, there's a lot of customers, um, there's a lot of support needed. There's support needed at the staff level to give them direction on um day-to-day decision making. Um there's time to spend with the board leadership about strategic direction goal setting. Um there's a lot of time that's needing to be spent with our um external customers, our um industry customers, making sure that we remain attentive to what industry is telling us, um, bringing them into, you know, they they help shape every program that we administer on this campus. And so making sure you have an ear toward that. And then um our governmental customers. Um, we are a political subdivision, we get an annual appropriation from the General Assembly, have to be attentive to the executive leadership there and the governor's office, the cabinet, um, the general assembly, as well as in Washington, because we have federally funded programs, and so uh making regular trips to Washington to educate them about how um the resources that we've been given are having an impact in accomplishing the mission. And so when you think about all the different stakeholders uh and customers that that you know I will have to manage relationships in, that's that's one of the most difficult things. I manage time, and so um there is no such thing as a as a traditional work week or an eight to five. Um it really demands time as opportunity arises, and sometimes that's you know, after hours, weekends, whenever the the need arises, you have to be willing to put in that sacrifice from where I sit. So um that's always a constant struggle, and and work-life balance is important. You try to manage that as well. Uh, but it helps when you love what you do. And uh sometimes that makes it feel less like work, and and you you get to see the impact of your work um in terms of the the lives that we're changing and the students that we're serving.

Real Stories Of Workforce Impact

Caleb Ayers

And to flip that, what are what are some of the things you're most proud of during during these past four years?

Telly Tucker

So I grew up in a in a family, big family, you know, regularly attended church, was involved in sports and activities and clubs and camps and all those sorts of things. I was always around people. And so probably to say I'm a people person is an understatement, rather extroverted, um, which is probably what drew me to economic development. Um but I think at the end of the day, um make a difference in people's lives is one of the things I'm most proud of. Um at this at the forum just uh a week and a half ago, we had a young lady who sat on a panel who talked about her family um literally living in a hotel because they didn't have anywhere else to go. Uh and then this program was a lifeline for her. She was kind of at her wit's end, last opportunity, ready to give up.

Caleb Ayers

For those listening who don't know, he's talking about ATDM, accelerated training and defense manufacturing. Sorry, keep going.

Telly Tucker

Yeah, yeah. So an ATDM student, a young lady who who ended up going through the non-destructive testing program, has now got a job, and to see the to see the pride and the excitement that she had on her face to tell a room of 300 people that she doesn't know about how this pro a program like ATDM changed her life and that next year um she's looking forward to buying her first home ever. Right? Like it's it's really, really hard to um put into words how that makes you feel in terms of being rewarded for um the work that you do. So I'm really most proud of the impact that we have in people's lives. Um same thing with with our younger students, our K-12 students. We've got um partnerships with schools all across the Commonwealth, right? GoTech, for example, 79 labs, six seventy-six schools, um from as far southwest as Abingdon, Virginia, um, Washington County, and uh as far east as is Hampton Roads, Newport News, Portsmouth. And you get to walk into some of those classrooms sometimes and you get to see the excitement from the students learning. And we've had um you know, Angela Brown, who's our um director of of GoTech. Um her daughter was one of the first students to go through GoTech. And um, you know, to see her come all the way through now high school and and to graduate, and she's chosen welding as a career path. To know that you know you you had some influence in creating a program that helped shape a bright future for a young lady who never thought she would go into welding, right? She was convinced she wanted to go into the healthcare industry, those things give you a sense of pride too. So I'm really proud of the impact that we have on students' lives, students of all ages. But but then to be able to do that too in an environment where you're helping rebuild a region. Southern Virginia has had remarkable success in economic development, the recruitment of companies here, to know that the programs that you're administering play a part in helping provide jobs that are going to support the next generation, two, three generations of people in this region. And some of those companies are producing um parts that our military will use either in a munitions setting or in a shipbuilding setting, submarine setting, and that that could save a life one day. Um, all those things together, really proud, proud um to be a part of something that that has greater meaning than just showing up every day for a paycheck. And I think I hear that a lot of times with the people in who work here at the institute. The mission of the organization makes a difference. And uh so for any of our listeners out there that are looking to join a winning organization, uh put a plug in for for keeping their eye on our our uh I think last time I looked we have about 19 open positions posted. So we do. We we regularly keep somewhere between 10 and 20 positions open. Um so always seeking and looking for good talent.

Caleb Ayers

What

Big Bets On Facilities And Programs

Caleb Ayers

have been some of the biggest bets that we have made as an organization while you've been president? And how have those panned out, or do we know how those have panned out yet?

Telly Tucker

Tough question because many of our bets are long-term bets. Um they take more than four years to uh to pay off. We're in the middle of one right now that I think is a is a big, big bet, big investment we're making. Um we've acquired uh a building at 149 Slayton. That was a significant investment by our board leadership to jump into manufacturing um optimization, which is um for those who are not in the manufacturing world out there, it's it's helping companies um eliminate waste, improve processes, reduce time, reduce cost in many ways. Maybe a company has uh a process that's not very efficient, that's costly, it's time consuming, and they need some outside help to come in and help help them troubleshoot and um optimize or right size that process, make it more optimal. Um and so we've made an investment in purchasing a building and upfitting a building that's going to be dedicated to that. And one of the things I'm really pleased about is we're already starting to see projects come to us where we're helping companies with these types of challenges. Um while I would say it's too early to say um what the overall measurable return on investment is, we're real time starting to see the results of of that investment, and that's exciting. We've made investments in uh we've made investments in certainly in GoTech, um, we've made investments in new equipment and applied research. Um we continue to be one of the uh areas in the country that's known for controlled environment agriculture because of some of the bets we've made in equipment. It's it's bringing notoriety and awareness uh from a controlled environment agriculture standpoint. Um you know, if I could look back a little longer than just my time here and think about, you know, my economic development time here. The investments that we made in workforce, even when I was, I think the first investment I made as economic development director in the city of Danville was trying to convince city council to invest a million one at GW, George Washington High School for Machining Lab. And um, you know, I got a few interesting looks and quite a few questions about whether that was a wise investment. But you fast forward, you know, to 10, 12 years later, and um those investments in workforce, not just that one, but the the investments that workforce enabled us to get an ATDM. Well, ATDM enabled us to attract a company like Avio USA, right? Um thousands of jobs and you know, over half million, half billion dollars of investment. Um, those things there are there are a lot of times they're not opportunities in life in your career where you get to see um that life cycle of an investment coming back to to then pay off in some way. And so it's been it's been a joy really to be part of a community long enough to see some of those early investments that you advocated for that were um, you know, and many times they were difficult to get buy-in and get support for, um, come full circle now. And um it's a classic build it and build it and they will come, I guess. Um it's good that it worked out because it's it doesn't always work out that way. No investment is without risk, and um no risk, no reward is what we like to say. So what we try to do is mitigate the risk as much as possible. You can never eliminate it, and um make investments in an environment that is rich with opportunity and that has you've done your your homework in terms of your due diligence and you look in the environment in which you're making the investment. And if all those things line up, you have a much greater chance of success.

Caleb Ayers

Where

The Next Five Years And Disruption

Caleb Ayers

are we going in the next four years? Where do you envision it? I wish I knew. You're still working on the strategic plan, so we don't know, right?

Telly Tucker

No, we we are uh we are are are just in the process of starting to kick off a new um strategic uh plan update, uh five-year look ahead, if you will. Our our most recent uh strategic plan was approved by the board in 2022. Um so we're coming up on year five, and about four to five years is is about the right time for you to refresh your strategic uh plan and and kind of or maybe even do an overhaul or at least a refresh on where you've been. So we're we're looking at that. And I think for me, a big part of what we're gonna be focused on for the next five years is um managing the growth that's coming our way. Um we have landed somewhere between six and ten thousand jobs in the last three to four years in this region. Um when you look at the economic development multiplier, the indirect and induced jobs that will come as a result of those, I would argue that it's probably somewhere between 18 to 20,000 jobs that might come to this region over the next 10 years because of these. Um there is a tremendous amount of uh growth when you think about the size of this region, the infrastructure, the training, the education, the housing, um, the coordination that it's gonna take between schools and colleges and higher education institutions and elected officials and investors to fulfill the commitment to all of those industries that we've we've um recruited here. Uh and so much of our direction in the next four to five years is gonna be supporting, making sure that that those industries are supported and what they need to come here and be successful so that they can fulfill the investments, the job creation that that they committed to. Um their our success is interlinked with their success. And we need to make sure that that we do our part in supporting them. And so um, while it might feel like a little bit of a shift in and we we will never go away from economic development completely in terms of attraction, um, but certainly we want to make sure that we support the existing industries and those industries that are coming here because undoubtedly it will be disruptive to this community. It will be disruptive in terms of the new construction that has to happen, it'll be disruptive in terms of the attrition that happens to organizations. There will be people who move up and seek new professional growth opportunities or jobs. Well, there's also a company that's probably going to lose some talent because it's going on to a new opportunity, they're gonna lose employees and they may be maybe working for one of the new companies. And IALR is not, you know, we're we're not insulated from that. So, how do you prepare for that? You got you have to think about succession planning, developing new leaders, mentors, positions will open, people will have opportunities to step up, and part of our job is preparing them to be ready to step in those in those shoes and fulfill that mission. Um, that is how you define economic transformation for a region, region, economic growth. It's it's sometimes there's pains associated with that. It's not always um, you know, what do you call it, rainbows and flowers, right? It's it's it's some of that can be a little a little messy and a little disruptive at times. Um but but Jason Wells likes to to say that um anything worth having, any reward is you know, you kind of have to go through some stuff sometimes, right? You have to go through the fire a little bit to get to the to the to the um reward that's waiting. Uh and so um I'm looking forward to the next five years. It's gonna be even a different challenge than the last five were. Um but that's what makes it interesting. That's what what you know motivates me to get out of the bed every day and come into the office and and work. And of course, um uh I'm I'm excited about the people that I have to work to do it with because they're they're like-minded and I feel like they have a passion about the work that we do and the people that we serve.

Caleb Ayers

Well, yeah, thanks for uh sharing your insights. I know I've been here for I guess three and a half of your four years, so not for for most of the time. Yeah, it's been it's been a lot changing, a lot going on, a lot of cool stuff. Um, but as you said, it all does come back to that, you know, we can hang our hat on that we're making an impact and have that that goal of economic transformation that goes through everything we do. All right. Thanks for being here, Telly. We appreciate it.

Telly Tucker

Thank you.