Robert J. Soble
President and Owner, Pottery Art Studio
Robert J. Soble was appointed by City Council in April, 2004 to serve as NRHA’s newest Commissioner. Mr. Soble is President and Owner of Pottery Art Studio. Mr. Soble has served on dozens of local boards and committees. He was formerly Vice Chairman of Norfolk’s Industrial Development Authority. Mr. Soble helped to establish Harborfest, Festevents, and Virginia Stage Company. Mr. Soble was Senior Vice President of the Virginia Zoological Society; he chaired the Fan Fair of Virginia orchestra group. He serves as advisor to Festevents, was Chairman of Zoo-to-Do and served on the 10th Anniversary of Scope Commission. Mr. Soble has also been a board member of the City’s Economic Development Authority, Virginia Symphony, Arthritis Foundation and Cultural Alliance of Hampton Roads.
In addition to the serving on numerous boards, Mr. Soble has also worked on committees for OpSail 2000, Holidays in the City, Virginia Opera Ball, Children’s Hospital of the Kings Daughters and many other organizations.
Mr. Soble sees the potential of the City and feels ‘there’s a lot of really important work to do in Norfolk’. He says “now that downtown has been reinvented, we at NRHA can help bring that same level of revitalization to the neighborhoods.”