News Article

Lt. Gov. Bolling talks jobs in Henry Co.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Ashley Roberts
WSLS10

HENRY COUNTY - Since taking office, Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling and Governor Bob McDonnell have announced more than 1,600 jobs for our area. More than 900 of those are for Southside, and 467 jobs for the Martinsville-Henry County area.

Bolling says he and McDonnell aren't finished, and they have a plan to keep creating jobs in the Commonwealth.

Bolling spent Tuesday in the Martinsville-Henry County area to talk about two important issues - economic development and job growth.

"I think we're making good choices in Virginia," he said. "We've got our economy moving in the right direction."

But he says there's still more work to do.

Bolling started his day celebrating what has already been done at the Faneuil call center.

He said, "It's just an example of some of the good things happening in Southwest Virginia."

Bolling kept that positive attitude into Tuesday evening at a special dinner for the Martinsville-Henry County Chamber of Commerce, where he was invited as the guest speaker.

Bolling says his plan for attracting new business in the future is to market the Commonwealth as a business-friendly area, full of people who are ready and willing to work.

"In the first seven months of our administration," he said, "we've closed seven economic development deals and created over 800 new jobs."

He says that was just part one of the first phase of his and McDonnell's jobs and opportunity agenda.

He told the packed dining room that the second part will include starting a technology fund dedicated to attracting companies in that industry, giving more attention to small businesses to help them grow, expanding tourism, and putting a bigger emphasis on workforce development programs so people can get the skills and training they need to get a job.

Bolling's ideas, though still in the development stage, received a round of applause from the audience, who hopes his message and new jobs in Martinsville are a sign of more good things to come for Henry County.

Bolling also told us he expects there will be a special session in the general assembly - hopefully in November - on government restructuring and the controversial topic of privatizing ABC stores in the Commonwealth.

We also asked Bolling about a proposal by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, that could mean losing thousands of jobs in Virginia.

Gates wants to close the Joint Forces Command facilities in Suffolk and Newport News as part of his effort to restructure the massive military budget.

The move would eliminate 5,000 jobs.

Lieutenant Governor Bolling says the proposal doesn't make sense.

"While there's a need to achieve savings at the federal level and within the military," Bolling said, "this is really not the way to do it. In the long run, we think this would probably cost the country far more money than it would save."

This evening, Virginia Senator Jim Webb released a statement saying he was "disappointed in the White House" and questioned whether the Secretary of Defense acted too hastily on the recommendation to eliminate the Joint Command.

For additional information contact Ibbie Hedrick at 804-225-2487 or ibbie.hedrick@ltgov.virginia.gov.