MURP's Featured Student

Shana Johnson is February’s Featured Student.

Shana came to the program after graduating from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts with a double major in Geography and International Development, and working as a transportation consultant at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technologies Administration. She has volunteered with American Red Cross, for the past 12 years, serving as a member of the Red Cross National Youth Council, receiving their national Woodrow Wilson Award for Exemplary Youth Volunteer Leadership, and today serving as a volunteer consultant with the Red Cross Office of the National Chair of Volunteers.

Shana entered the MURP program choosing to focus on issues of Economic Development. She has also served as a Graduate Assistant and as CASPA leadership during her time in the program. She is currently working on her final, major paper, for the MURP program. The major paper looks at the evolution of industry cluster policy over the last twenty years in Tucson, Arizona.

In describing her research Shana said,

"I chose to examine a cluster policy because I believe that the cluster model is an inaccurate depiction of both the nature of the relationships of local firms and the sources of regional development/competitive advantage. I believe that cluster theory is an under socialized view of economic development. However cluster policy has been widely adopted by policy makers around the world, and Arizona was one of the earliest states to pursue a cluster-based development strategy. While there are few remnants of cluster policy in Arizona left today it has 3 cluster working groups in regionally emerging industries (optics, IT, and bioinudstry) in Tucson that have been moderately to very successful. For these industries the working groups came into place at a time when the industries had not organized and they have come to serve essentially as trade associations. There are many benefits that can accrue in the right industrial environment (which I argue Tucson has) from having industry associations having to deal with the building of their "relational assets" - connecting people to one another, building relationships of trust which can turn in to informal or formal information/knowledge exchange, collaboration, new synergism/opportunities and encouraging new firm formation. "Relational assets" being intangible are often not considered important by local economic developers. In my paper I try to show how, without expressly meaning to, industry cluster policy in Tucson positively influenced the building of their relational assets, illuminating some of the academic discussion surrounding these factors that are often inaccessible to planners, and ask, how best can local economic developers go about fostering relational assets for economic growth?"

Dr. Heike Mayer said of, Shana,

"She will soon graduate from our program and we are convinced that she will have a wonderful and prosperous career in urban planning and economic development. Shana's expertise is in economic development planning, particularly as it relates to cluster-based economic development. She was an integral part of the Farm shoring in Virginia studio project and has worked with me on research about emerging high-tech regions. Shana's major paper is exemplary as it involves an in-depth qualitative analysis of cluster-based economic development in the state of Arizona. We will miss Shana, but maybe her son, Ward, will graduate in the class of 2025. He already has the necessary prerequisites because he went through all the economic development classes with Shana."

In reference to her time spent in the MURP program, Shana said,

“Virginia Tech's MURP program in Alexandria has been a wonderful experience. I would encourage current students to get as involved with the program as possible, through CASPA, working with their professors and fellow students!”

After graduation, her short-term goals in her planning career include trying to publish some of her work/observations, and to engage with and learn from as many people as possible. In the long-term, she hopes to "make a difference” in her own small way.

She says,

“While I have a strong focus in economic development, I have also had coursework/working experience and an interest in issues surrounding transportation and the environment. While it is impossible for any one of us to have a deep knowledge across the many areas of the planning discipline and practice, I hope that planning moves into a more synergistic era where planners of all stripes work together for our shared common goals more often.”

Would you like communicate with Shana regarding her work and her activities with the Urban Affairs and Planning Program? Send her an e-mail: shanaj82@vt.edu

This student profile was written by MURP student Sarah Sturtevant.