Hometown Boy Gets Paid Selling The City He Loves By James J. Lidington Rick Henn ’73 has seen Old Dominion University and Norfolk grow around him. Henn, who received his bachelor’s degree in business administration, has had a unique perspective on the recent revitalization of the downtown area from his job as senior project manager in Norfolk’s Department of Development, where he provides assistance to new and existing businesses. Name a big project in Norfolk over the last 20 years and Henn has had a hand in it: Harbor Park, MacArthur Center, 150 Main Street Office Tower, USAA, Norfolk Commerce Park, the NorVa and Waterside, to name a few. Norfolk's Granby Street corridor, once a home to numerous tattoo parlors and bars, is now a hodgepodge of hip restaurants, clubs and specialty shops, as well as residences, one of which Henn occupies. And the trend appears to be accelerating. Henn said the city currently has $500 million in new projects starting this winter in downtown alone. “We are experiencing a rebirth throughout the city of Norfolk, including, but not limited to, the ODU Village project,” he said. Henn is assisting new businesses moving into the retail space along Monarch Way in the University Village. “I feel I have the best job in the world because I get paid to sell my hometown,” Henn said. “I also get great satisfaction in watching the city grow and meeting all of the new members of the Norfolk family, i.e. the business community.” On fall and winter evenings and weekends, Henn can often be seen courtside at the Ted Constant Convocation Center as a member of the ODU basketball statistics crew. For the past 26 years, he has performed various tasks for men’s and women’s home games. One night he may be running the game clock, another night keeping the stat book. During TV games, he keeps stats for the announcers. “I am a utility infielder,” Henn said, borrowing a baseball analogy. “(Sports information director) Carol Hudson and I often say that we have one of the best and most veteran stat crews in college basketball,” noted Debbie Byrne, associate athletic director. “Rick Henn, Cliff Sayles and Gary Owens have all been serving as the backbone of our crew for 26 seasons now. Rick has done all this on a ‘volunteer’ basis while raising three daughters and holding down a very demanding day job. You can’t begin to repay that kind of loyalty to a program.” Henn is engaged to be married next fall to Kathy Edwards of Virginia Beach. He has three daughters from a previous marriage. His eldest, Lori Hall, is a former intern with the ODU athletic department and his middle daughter, Chrisie Henn, is a 2004 ODU graduate who has worked in the athletic department for more than three years.