From The News & Record

If Southside Virginia painted Gov. Bob McDonnell as a green Grinch for announcing the closing of Mecklenbrg Correctional Center last week, it surely saw Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling as bright-red Santa Claus himself today as he announced that the 150 new workers would be employed by … Dominion Virginia Power.

Bolling made the announcement at Riverstone Centre on Thursday morning before a buoyant audience of community leaders, some wearing festive touches for the season.

"What a great time," said Bolling, citing the pre-Christmas date. Halifax County has known for months about the jobs – most of the community just didn't know exactly who the employer would be, as economic developers had wanted to keep the name under wraps.

Incoming calls will be from customers reporting an outage, paying a bill or wanting to turn on or off their electricity. The call center will be among four in Virginia (joining Martinsville, Richmond and Norfolk) and it and the Martinsville office replace one in Texas. Dominion Virginia Power has 2.4 million customers and receives about 7 million calls per year, many during major storms and other outages.

The jobs come "OUT of Texas and INTO Halifax County, Va." crowed Bolling, taking a subtle jab at Texas Gov. Rick Perry. "Just a little joke," he quipped. Bolling is the state chairman for the Mitt Romney campaign; both Perry and Romney are seeking the Republican nomination for President.

Operating the call center will be Fanueil, a Virginia-based company. Virginia Spraggins was introduced as its first local hire.

The good news also comes on the heels of Dollar General's announcement late last month that it will add 50 new jobs to its distribution center, right across U.S. 58 from Riverstone. Also this morning: Amazon.com announced two new distribution sites near Richmond that will employ about 1,400.

Recently, the Southside Economic Development Committee of the Virginia Tobacco Commission backed a $500,000 grant award to prepare space for a call center for the company at the Riverstone Technology Park on the upper floor of Building One.

The money will be used to prepare general office space and a call center environment with staff cubicles, equipment, training rooms and other amenities. The company asked that the space be available by the end of December in order to start operations in late January.

Fanueil CEO Anna Van Buren said she was taken with Riverstone: its exercise room and walking trails. IDA Executive Director Mike Sexton presented Van Buren and Dominion CEO Paul Koonce with a small sculptures by Vernon Hill artist Matt Stafford, who works for Carlbrook School.

The company has agreed to a five year lease in Riverstone, according to officials.

The company has indicated it will hire 100 employees initially, ramping up to 150 employees by July. It reports a starting average wage of $10 per hour plus benefits. A pre-hiring blitz took place in October, when the then-unnamed call center took applications. At the time, officials said positions require a high school diploma or equivalent, knowledge of Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, and Outlook) excellent interpersonal communications both in writing and on the telephone and proficiency in keyboarding/data entry.

A clearly delighted and unusually animated State Sen. Frank Ruff, a Clarksville Republican, also took the podium, contrasting today's news with the prison-closing of last week.

Congressman Robert Hurt, a Chatham Republican, also spoke.

Interested workers can apply on-line at the Virginia Employment Commission (http://www.vawc.virginia.gov) or in person at the South Boston One-Stop 2506 Houghton Ave, South Boston, VA 24592.

Photos: First, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling announces 150 jobs will be located at Riverstone with the relocation of Dominion Virginia Power's call center from Texas. Second, Faneuil's first local employee Virginia Spraggins. Third, From left, Anna Van Buren, CEO of Faneuil, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and Paul Koonce, CEO of Dominion Virginia Power. Bolling presents a Virginia flag that had flown over the Capital. Fourth, Halifax County IDA Board members are recognized; from left, Garland Ricketts, Butch Blanks, John Cannon, Lisa Kipps-Brown, Ted Bennett, Chris Lumsden. (David Conner II photos)

Linda Burns, with Burns Development Group from Dallas, Texas, who participated in the SVRA's weekend said, "I was honestly amazed at not only the venue for the weekend, but the many attributes Southern Virginia has to offer my clients. I look forward to working with the SVRA on projects in the future."

The Southern Virginia Regional Alliance's mission is to accelerate the job growth and increase the tax base for the counties of Halifax, Henry, Patrick and Pittsylvania, as well as the cities of Danville and Martinsville. The SVRA will be responsible for marketing the region globally as a great place to live, work and play. The SVRA will have a coherent message inclusive of all regional data and will be solely focused on the recruitment of new industries into the regional footprint. Hosting events such as the Primland Resort/Martinsville Speedway weekend, will help achieve the mission to bring new opportunities to our communities.

He cited the creation of the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance, a marketing partnership between Henry, Patrick, Pittsylvania and Halifax counties and the cities of Martinsville and Danville. The alliance "is going to well-position this region for future economic growth," Bolling said.

Although he didn't name specifics, Bolling said, "We've got a number of good projects in the pipeline that I think you'll be hearing about over the next several months. We're going to have a very aggressive legislative agenda again this year to help advance some of the rural economic development strategies that we have."

Bolling also expressed satisfaction with Virginia's overall economic progress since McDonnell's term began in January 2010.

"According to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, we've created about 34,000 net new jobs in Virginia in the last two years. We've brought our (statewide) unemployment rate down from 7.2 percent to 6.5 percent. We're doing much better than almost any other state in the country right now," he said. "But unemployment's an absolute thing. If you're out there looking for a job and you can't find one, your unemployment rate's 100 percent. So we're not going to quit working until we get to where we want to be."

Bolling pointed to a pair of recent accolades for the commonwealth. About six months ago, CNBC named Virginia the "top state in America for business," he said. Roughly three months later, Helena Commercial Real Estate declared Virginia the most "pro-business state in America," he said.

"We've invested over a $100 million in proven economic development and job creation programs in the last two years alone. So I think the effort that we're making is paying off, and I'm pleased with the progress we've made, but we all realize that we have a lot of work left to be done," he said.

Unemployment rates in Southside are higher than the state average, with Martinsville's rate in August 19.4 percent.

Bolling said he believes the governor will protect economic development initiatives even if he is forced to make cuts to balance the state budget. McDonnell has directed many state agencies to submit budget reduction proposals in the amounts of 2, 4 and 6 percent.

"What I suspect will happen is that, you know, budgets are always about priorities, so what I suspect will happen is that we will choose to invest more in some areas, like economic development," Bolling said. "That may mean that we have less to spend in other areas, so we're going to have to make some difficult choices. But at this point, the 2-, 4- and 6-percent budget reduction plans we've asked for are precautionary, and we'll know better as we approach the release of the budget in December whether or not those plans will have to be implemented, and if so, to what degree they're going to have to be implemented and what agencies they might impact," he said.

The award represents a combination of federal funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service's Social Innovation Fund and an equal amount of matching funds raised by the National Fund from private donors. Locally, the Danville Regional Foundation, The Harvest Foundation, The Community Foundation of the Dan River Region, the J.T. Minnie Maude Charitable Trust, the West Piedmont and South Central Workforce Investment Boards, and the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Revitalization Commission, along with the regional Chambers of Commerce and the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance, have joined forces with the National Fund to develop long-term employer partnerships in support of workforce improvements across the region, improving employment, training, and labor market outcomes for low-skill, low-wage individuals.

The two-year grant will allow the local Collaborative to support training, capacity building efforts, and systems change work in the advanced manufacturing, energy, healthcare, and information technology sectors. "The National Fund model is locally driven, and unique to every region and every industry sector," said Damian Thorman, National Program Director at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and Chair of the National Fund. "But all of our sites are built upon a similar strategy: implement job training and career support programs in close partnership with employers, ensuring that businesses benefit from a skilled workforce and employees get the skills and certifications that lead to sustainable careers."

The Dan River Region Collaborative (DRRC) was founded in 2008 to address workforce development in the Dan River Region of Virginia. To date, the Collaborative has raised more than $1.4 million to support its efforts. Employer partnerships in healthcare, advanced manufacturing, and energy are currently underway with plans to explore an information technology partnership. The new funds will allow the Collaborative to expand its geographic footprint into Patrick County and three North Carolina border counties.

Laurie Moran, President of the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce, serves as the current Chairperson for the Dan River Region Collaborative. "We are thrilled that our region has been recognized and awarded a Social Innovation Fund grant. As we focus on job creation, it's imperative that we find innovative solutions that advance the skills of our workforce to be competitive in a global economy," said Moran. "In times of limited resources, the public-private funding partnerships that our region has leveraged will allow us to be flexible and responsive to the workforce needs of our employers."

Leigh Cockram, Executive Director for the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance, also serves on the DRRC Steering Committee. "The Dan River Region Collaborative is an important partner in assisting with building the workforce needed to support regional economic development in Southern Virginia," said Cockram. "The best way to show new prospects our region is a viable place to do business, is to show them a strong, stable existing industry base. This Social Innovation Fund grant will help the DRRC ensure we have the workforce needed to continue to support our existing industries' needs."

Regional employers in the manufacturing, healthcare, energy or IT sectors who are interested in learning more about the Collaborative should contact Julie Brown, DRRC Project Director, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 434-836-5674.

About National Fund for Workforce Solutions:

The National Fund for Workforce Solutions is an award-winning national initiative focused on helping low-wage workers obtain good careers while at the same time ensuring that employers have the high-quality skills that will enable them to succeed in this highly competitive economy. Since 2008, the National Fund has raised nearly $24 million to support 30 communities that have contributed an additional $104 million in locally-raised resources from 216 different funding sources, including community foundations, United Ways, corporate foundations, workforce investment boards, chambers of commerce and state agencies. Each of these communities has created local funding collaboratives that are collectively investing in more than 80 sectoral workforce partnerships. The addition of these six new sites brings the total number of communities where the National Fund is working to 30.

Ten national funders lead the effort: Annie E. Casey Foundation; the California Endowment; Ford Foundation; John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Microsoft; The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation; The Hitachi Foundation; the Prudential Foundation; and the Walmart Foundation.

About Jobs for the Future:

Jobs for the Future develops, implements, and promotes new education and workforce strategies that help communities, states, and the nation compete in a global economy. In 200 communities in 41 states, JFF improves the pathways leading from high school to college to family-sustaining careers.

About the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) and the Social Innovation Fund:

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America, and leads President Obama's national call to service initiative, United We Serve. The Social Innovation Fund is an initiative of the Corporation that improves the lives of people in low-income U.S. communities. Through an innovative public-private partnership, the Social Innovation Fund and selected local and national grantmakers co-invest in programs that increase the scale of community-based solutions that have evidence of real impact in the areas of youth development, economic opportunity or healthy futures.  Every federal dollar invested is matched with private funds, and all programs are rigorously evaluated. As a result, the most effective approaches can be expanded to reach more people in need and key lessons can be captured and broadly shared.  For more information, visit NationalService.gov.

IKEA supplier opens first U.S. facility in Southern Virginia

Ringgold, VA (September 30, 2011) Governor Bob McDonnell today announced that Axxor Group, a Netherlands-based company that designs, produces, and sells honeycomb made from paper and water-based glues, will invest $4.96 million to establish its first U.S. operation, Axxor N.A., in Pittsylvania County. The company, which will be located in the Ringgold East Industrial Park, will enter the U.S. market to supply honeycomb core that is used in IKEA subsidiary Swedwood North America's product line. Swedwood North America is located in nearby Cane Creek Centre, an industrial park jointly developed by Pittsylvania County and the City of Danville. The project will create 31 new jobs. Virginia successfully competed against North Carolina for the project.

Governor McDonnell met with officials at Axxor Group in the Netherlands during his European Marketing Trip in July 2010.

Speaking about the announcement, Governor McDonnell said, "Swedwood North America was a transformational project for Southern Virginia, and Axxor Group's investment in Pittsylvania County is an outgrowth of that partnership. When any company establishes a large operation in Virginia we immediately strive to use their presence to draw potential suppliers to the same area. That is what has happened here. Axxor N.A. will supply a component used in IKEA products made at nearby Swedwood. As its first U.S. operation, Axxor Group will now be able to impact the North American market. Announcement's like today's are how you, project by project, build a dynamic, interconnected and thriving regional economy. And the result is more good jobs for our citizens."

"The Governor and I met with Axxor Group in the Netherlands last summer during his European Marketing Mission, and discussed potential investment in Virginia," said Jim Cheng, Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade. "It is gratifying that this announcement is a product of that meeting, and we warmly welcome Axxor N.A. to the Commonwealth."

Dutch engineer Wieger Wiegersma started Axxion Industries in 1991 in Holland. Axxor developed the continuous honeycomb production system step by step into the Single Step Core system of today, called the Axxor SSC system. This system is capable of producing honeycomb in an extremely efficient way with all means of process-controlled production. Today the Axxor Group is selling to a majority of the door industry, the furniture industry, automotive suppliers, construction material producers and packaging companies. The Axxor Group partnered with U.S. entrepreneur Robert Boerrigter, who will lead Axxor N.A.

"We at Axxor N.A. are very pleased to establish our base in Virginia," said Boerrigter. "The proximity and our commitment to Swedwood were our starting point, and the proactive and professional business environment that Virginia offered heavily influenced our final decision. In addition to Swedwood, we expect to be serving many other businesses and industries from this facility."

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Pittsylvania County to secure the project for Virginia. Governor McDonnell approved a $50,000 grant from the Governor's Opportunity Fund to assist Pittsylvania County with the project. The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission approved $100,000 in Tobacco Region Opportunity Funds for the project. The company is eligible to receive benefits from the Virginia Enterprise Zone Program, administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. Through its Virginia Jobs Investment Program, the Virginia Department of Business Assistance will provide funding and services to support the company's recruitment, training and retraining activities.

"Pittsylvania County is extremely pleased with Axxor N.A.'s decision to locate their North American manufacturing plant in the Ringgold East Industrial Park," said Tim Barber, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. "This project has taken almost two years, but Axxor N.A. and the Economic Development office continued to overcome the obstacles and bring it to reality. This is also a fine example of the commitment of the Board of Supervisors to economic development and job creation. The bottom line is that Axxor N.A. will add to the County's tax base, occupy a vacant building, and bring much needed employment opportunities to the citizens of Pittsylvania County and Danville."          

"This is another great day for Danville, Pittsylvania County and Virginia," said Delegate Danny Marshall, a member of the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission. "Thanks to Axxor for bringing 31 new jobs and $4.96 million in investment to our area."

"Today's announcement that Axxor Group will establish its first U.S. operation in Pittsylvania County is great news for Southside, and I want to thank Governor McDonnell for his leadership and work on this project," said U.S. Rep. Robert Hurt (VA-5).  "This investment will help create 31 new jobs in the area at a time when we need it most and is another positive step forward as we all work to get our economy back on track."

The star attraction of the recent Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India was not an athlete or foreign dignitary, but the world's largest aerostat - created by Lindstrand USA, located in South Boston.

The 80m by 40m and 12m high aerostat is a unique piece of technology that is mounted with cameras to provide a 360-degree viewing experience so every person in the stadium could view the entire effect of the aerostat and laser projections. The high-resolution video projection featured animation graphics, parts of the Queen's Baton Relay and much more, and was coordinated with events which took place during the ceremonies.

Noblis announced plans to establish the Center for Applied High Performance Computing (CAHPC) in the city of Danville. CAHPC will be a world-class center for high-performance computing that accelerates the development and commercialization of applications requiring graph analytics for the benefit of the U.S. The Center will purchase the first next-generation Cray XMT supercomputer in the U.S. outside of a federal laboratory or academia. CAHPC will use this high-performance computer to solve complex problems requiring access to large amounts of data.

U.S. Senator Mark Warner announced the relocation of GSO Aviation, Inc. from Greensboro to Airside Industrial Park in Danville.

GSO Aviation is a Federal Aviation Administration certified company specializing in the repair and servicing of hydraulic components used on aircraft. The company will occupy a new, custom built facility which will enable the business to expand its activities, and it will bring fifteen new jobs to Danville.

The center's reach spans 16 counties and surrounding cities and has contributed millions to the economy in an area traditionally known for long-gone trades like textile manufacturing, which has gone overseas, and for its role in growing crops like tobacco. The demise of that economy left the area with generations of families where education wasn't as important.

"We were in high cotton here. Factories were going like crazy and tobacco markets were at full tilt and everybody was doing well," said Betty Adams, the center's executive director and a native of South Boston, where 18-wheelers loaded with fabrics from the nearby factory once regularly rumbled past her house.

A combination of state, local and other support has helped "develop an oasis in a desert" for students to get an education without traveling more than an hour away and help train them for current and future job fields, Adams said.

"We need to train people, educate people to use the technology that is really transforming manufacturing, (and) is transforming entrepreneurship," she said. "In little, rural, southern Virginia we're doing some really innovative things and thinking outside the box."

Associated Press - from an article by Michael Felderbaum, AP Business Writer

The partners in the venture — Halifax, Pittsylvania, Henry and Patrick counties, and the cities of Danville and Martinsville — offer an abundance of industrial parks, shell buildings and other enticements, and the job of the Alliance will be to sell these regional assets to site selection decision-makers.

Bolling expressed optimism that the additional marketing effort would pay off.

"I am confident that the position of this region is as good as any in the state and better than most to take advantage of an economic resurgence when it happens," said Bolling.

The organization's executive director, Leigh Cockram, said she and her staff are currently developing marketing materials for the region and hope to start meeting with company site selection officials starting in September.

Cockram said the regional pitch would revolve around a message of "this is a place you can come to do business and do it well.

"We have the labor force and the skill set that manufacturers need," she said.

Bolling and Cockram noted that the regional venture will not replace local economic development initiatives but complement them. After the Alliance identifies companies interested in the area, "It'll be up to local developers to sell their communities and seal the deal," said Cockram.

"I know there will continue to be some competition among the partners," said Bolling, "and that's a good thing."

The Southern Virginia Regional Alliance starts with a budget of some $600,000, funded in equal thirds by the General Assembly, the Virginia Tobacco Commission and contributions from each of the six participating localities.

Bolling said the Alliance marks another step in the McDonnell Administration's efforts to turn around the Southside Virginia economy through business recruitment. He pointed to the example of the City of Martinsville, with its high but declining jobless rate, as an indication these efforts are starting to pay off.

"To come from 22 percent [unemployment in Martinsville] down to 17 percent in a little more than a year in a tough economy is an accomplishment," he said.

The latest jobs numbers show that Martinsville had a 17.3 percent unemployment rate in June 2011, down from 21.0 percent in January 2010, the high-water mark in the past 18 months. Despite the declining percentage of unemployed workers, however, Martinsville actually has fewer jobs now (4,920) than it did in January 2010. (4,968). The size of the city's workforce has shrunk by 337 workers in that same period.

from SoVaNow.com