The mayors of Martinsville and Danville led a local delegation to Washington today to ask for Senator Warner’s help in restoring the House’s cuts to workforce development centers.  The House of Representatives voted to eliminate $3.6 billion in Workforce Investment Act funding nationwide, which would mean the shutdown of Southside Virginia’s workforce development centers.

Martinsville Mayor Kim Adkins joined Danville Mayor Sherman Saunders in arguing that the proposed cuts would hurt economic development efforts in Southside Virginia. Workforce development centers provide “one stop shopping” for employers and jobseekers, and it also provides a place for local residents to access job search resources and career guidance.

“For someone to come and pull the rug from under us is very disheartening,” Mayor Saunders said.

“How can you say ‘we want jobs’ but you don’t invest in work force?” added Laurie Moran, president of the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce. 

Local employer Michael Duncan, the general manager of EIT Electronic Manufacturing and Engineering Services, told the Senator that his company relied on the local workforce development center in hiring and training its first 17 employees. EIT now employees more than 100 people, and has plans to expand even further. 

“I support workforce development, and I value the work you perform, but our deficits and national debt have changed everything up here,” Senator Warner told the Southside delegation.

He recalled the loss of traditional manufacturing jobs in textiles and furniture over the last decade, and reminded the Southside leaders that his term as Virginia Governor resulted in $2 billion in new investment and 32,000 new jobs in economically distressed Southside and Southwest Virginia.

“Despite the challenges of Southside, I still believe your region has considerable assets that can be used to attract new business and new economic growth,” Senator Warner said.