Last week members of the Blacksburg and Christiansburg town councils attended the annual VML (Virginia Municipal League) meeting in Hampton.
At the opening session, Governor Ralph Northam, Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Corey Stewart spoke concerning the state of Virginia.
One topic that all four agreed on was the need for an educated work force. Companies are crying for individuals with computer and technical skills.
They feel the best way to attract new businesses is to make the business we have happy, and the best way to keep them happy is to provide skilled workers.
It was sais that Virginia has 23 community colleges that have the ability to prepare students for the 21st century work force.
Google, Apple and 12 other companies no longer require four-year college degrees.
They are just looking for skilled workers. We need to encourage individuals to enroll in tech courses. When that happens good, high paying jobs will follow.
Other topics included:
- Virginia goal is to be the number one state to do business. Currently we are ranked fourth.
- Currently Virginia’s unemployment is 3.0 percent, its lowest in 10 years.
- Virginia needs more broadband, only 36 percent of the state is covered. We need 5G coverage throughout the state.
• The federal government needs to finance more money into Virginia’s roads. One area is Interstate 81. The Interstate is 50 percent over the traffic capacity it was designed for. Traffic has doubled in the past 20 years. Currently 11.7 million trucks travel on 81 annually
- Drones and the use of them are expanding rapidly. This can be a major opportunity for Virginia to be a leader.
• Virginia needs to expand renewable energy, such as wind and solar. Today 70,000 homes in Virginia run on solar energy. In the next five years, solar use will triple.
• In the future, Virginia needs to think smart and keep up with the changing job market.
- At the end, Governor Northam mentioned that Hurricane Florence cost the state $44 million, but Virginia is expected be reimbursed three-fourths of the cost from the federal government.
Steve Huppert
Christiansburg Town Council
