Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling relays the rewards of the McDonnell administration's efforts to increase employment in Virginia.
MCDONNELL/BOLLING ADMINISTRATION SEES EARLY SUCCESS IN JOB CREATION EFFORTS
57 deals closed during first 100 days, resulting in 3,923 new jobs and $590M in capital investment
Governor McDonnell and I have repeatedly stated that the most important issue currently facing Virginia is the need to get our economy moving again and create jobs. This was the issue that dominated our campaign in 2009 and it has also been the focus of the first 100 days of our new administration.
During the recent legislative session we introduced our Jobs and Opportunity Agenda. We asked the General Assembly to partner with us to approve a series of legislative and budget initiatives that were designed to position Virginia to take advantage of a future economic resurgence.
Fortunately, the General Assembly understood our desire to invest in Virginia’s economic future and they worked with us on a bipartisan basis to approve almost all of the legislative and budget recommendations we made.
Based on early results, it appears as though our focus on economic development and job creation is paying off.
Just last week Governor McDonnell announced that Northrop Grumman has agreed to relocate their corporate headquarters from California to Virginia, creating 300 new, high paying jobs.
On Wednesday I had the privilege of announcing that Faneuil, Inc. has agreed to open a new Customer Service Center in Martinsville, creating up to 350 new jobs in the hardest hit of Virginia’s communities.
While these marquee announcements make news and create considerable “buzz” in economic development circles, there is a lot of additional work that has taken place behind the scenes to create jobs.
During the first 100 days of our administration the Virginia Economic Development Partnership closed 57 new deals, creating 3,923 new jobs in Virginia and generating $590M in new capital investment.
Many of these deals involved new companies that have agreed to locate in Virginia, but many others involved the expansion of existing companies that were already doing business in Virginia.
Likewise, while many of these new jobs were created in urban and suburban parts of our state, almost 50% of these new jobs were created in rural parts of Virginia.
This is a good start and it indicates that Virginia has a great deal of future economic development potential. However, to bring our unemployment rate down to pre-recession levels we have a lot of work to do.
Next week I will convene the Governor’s Commission on Economic Development and Job Creation. This Commission, which is comprised of 64 business leaders from all across the state, will help us develop phase two of our Jobs and Opportunity Agenda.
The goal of the Commission will be to advise us on what additional steps we need to take to improve Virginia’s economic competitiveness, with emphasis on those strategic areas where we have the greatest likelihood for success.
We have a great pro-business story to tell in Virginia, but there is more we can do to make Virginia a business friendly state.
Likewise, while we have boosted our investment in proven economic development programs to help tell our story, there is more we can do aggressively pursue new jobs domestically and internationally.
As Virginia’s Chief Jobs Creation Officer I am pleased by the progress we have made during the first 100 days of our administration, but I am committed to doing everything we can to further this progress over the next four years.
If we continue to work hard and make smart choices, I am convinced that we can position Virginia to take full advantage of a future economic recovery, and I know that economic development will be the rising tide that will lift all ships – families, businesses and government itself – out of the recession that has gripped us for the past three years and put us on the course to a more prosperous economic future.
Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling
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