Bolling updates chamber on jobs

Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling summarized what the current administration is doing to improve the economy and create jobs and took questions from the audience at an Altavista Area Chamber of Commerce dinner Monday evening.

Bolling served as lieutenant governor under former Gov. Tim Kaine. Gov. Bob McDonnell made Bolling Virginia's chief jobs creation officer at the beginning of his term in January. Since then, Bolling has been working on getting Virginia's economy going again and developing jobs.

"My time and attention is almost singularly focused on that," he said.

Bolling said economic development and job creation could help lift Virginia out of the recession. He was working to position Virginia to take advantage of an economic recovery, which would start on the national level, he said.

In the first seven months of this administration, Bolling said 145 economic development deals were closed. The public would never hear about some of the deals because they didn't all individually create a large number of jobs. But all together the deals would create about 8,000 jobs, he said.

In the first five months of the administration, Virginia had a net gain of 71,500 jobs, the third highest in the country, Bolling said.

But the successes were just the beginning, he said. A lot of work remained.

"Government doesn't create jobs. The private sector does," he said.

The government could create polices to help create jobs, and it could create policies that hurt job creation. This administration was working to help businesses create jobs, he said.

Bolling said the administration was also working to try to get companies to move to Virginia. They were targeting businesses in other states, talking to CEOs and showing them what Virginia had to offer.

They were also talking to CEOs for businesses already located in Virginia to ask what their needs were and how the government could help.

Bolling is serving on the Governor's Commission on Economic Development and Job Creation. They plan to issue a report with recommendations in September, he said.

Recommendations would likely include the need to develop emerging technologies such as businesses in biotechnology and life sciences.

A major emphasis on small businesses would also likely be recommended, he said, because 75-80 percent of new jobs were created by small businesses.

Workforce training was also a key, he said. It would help give people skills that they needed to be a part of the workforce.

Bolling used a visit to Goodyear as an example for the need of workforce training. He recently visited the Danville plant. At the time, Goodyear had 38 job openings for electricians, but was having problems finding qualified people for the positions.

He said Virginia had to be competitive in all sectors, including manufacturing.

"We have to remain a society that makes things, not be a society that just consumes things," he said.

Bolling said he didn't have any idea when the economy would come back to where it had been. He asked his listeners not to get discouraged. Patience and persistence were important.

"We have come through a tough time. I believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel," he said.

Making smart choices in Virginia and working for smart choices on the national level would help, he said.