SUFFOLK, Va. — Janet Days, the newly-appointed economic development director for the city of Suffolk, has made a significant career shift from her nearly 40-year tenure with the U.S. Navy to a role shaping the economic landscape of her local community.
Days concluded her illustrious naval career on Dec. 1. Her service included a historic term as the first African American woman to command Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval base.
"It actually took some time after I took command of the base to fall into that role that I understand the significance of it, the importance, not just for the Naval Station and for the Navy, but for the community at large," she said. "It was a great opportunity to be a role model and to just be a great representation of the Navy."
Days acknowledges missing certain aspects of her military career, especially the relationships built over decades.
"You don't do anything that long and not miss it," she said.
There are also parts she’s happy to leave behind.
"Do you miss going to base at all?" asked WTKR News 3's Jay Greene in an exclusive one-on-one interview with Days.
"Absolutely not," she replied with a chuckle. "I love my Navy career. The traffic is a detractor for certain. But no, I do not miss it. I don't miss driving to the base."
As retirement approached, Days knew she wanted to stay active and continue contributing to her community in the Hampton Roads area where she spent 20 years of her career.
When the opportunity arose to lead Suffolk's Economic Development Department, it felt like a natural fit.
“It was kind of a no-brainer," she told Greene. "In my last position, I worked with city governments, nonprofits and various organizations. It gave me a lot more comfort stepping into a role such as this."
As she takes on her new responsibilities, Days is focusing on fostering local entrepreneurship and ensuring sustainable growth for Suffolk.
“Suffolk is a little golden nugget here,” she said. "The population density, quite frankly, over the last decade, I say, has almost doubled. And so people are moving to Suffolk. They're building homes and they're raising families and so forth. It's an absolutely wonderful place to be, but I have the opportunity to have some impact into that."
Suffolk, by land mass, is the largest city in the commonwealth. Days says that gives her a lot of room to work.
"For example, downtown Suffolk. There's a lot of history here. There's the desire to have an art historic district, which we are well-suited for," she said. "We have the infrastructure, we have the wherewithal, we have the people. We have the desire to do so."
Days said her experience managing diverse environments in the Navy is a skill she plans to leverage in her new role, promoting inclusivity and collaboration within the community.
People are at the center for the goals and objectives of the department, she said.
"You're not going to have mission success in anything that you do — whether it's selling a ship, flying an aircraft... or building a plan on how to develop a city — if you don't develop a team right and develop culture within that team where all feel that there is value added in them," she told Greene. "I think something that I've gained over four decades in the Navy was really how to deal in a diverse environment with different people, different backgrounds. Everyone that works here is not from Suffolk. We work for Suffolk, and we're very happy to do so. But to me, that's one of the critical elements that I pull from my experience in the military, and I think translates well here to the city."
Days did something many military personnel experience—transitioning to civilian careers. She shared some advice:
"You have to come outside the lifelines of the installation of the base, and quite frankly, it doesn't matter what service you're in, and you have to integrate yourself into community, because many of the occupations translate over and oftentimes, depending upon what you do in, for example, the Navy, you're not provided that opportunity," she said. "If you're an operator, for example, on a particular platform, whether it be a submarine or ship or aircraft, that's what you're doing, or if you're a maintainer. And so the opportunity to have those intersection points with community may be few unless you have family and kids and they're involved in school and so forth, but you want to step outside if you're interested in doing something outside the Department of Defense and be confident in doing that and comfortable and get to know people, because there are hardworking folks that are not in the Department of Defense, quite frankly, and that is what city government is."
Looking ahead, Days is enthusiastic about the future of Suffolk.
“I am navigating some new waters. I still have a lot of gas in the tank," she said. "Suffolk’s on the map, we’re not going anywhere. There’s a lot of growth happening, a lot of opportunities. Come on out and visit me.”
