Day three in the Commonwealth began at Common Grounds, a local coffee shop in South Boston. Senator Warner spoke to members of the community about his work on a bipartisan effort to tackle the deficit. The Senator also talked about the resilience and courage of people in South Boston and Southside Virginia, which has been hard hit by outsourcing and the recession. "What y'all have done here in South Boston is amazing," he said. "A lesser community might have thrown in the towel,"

Later we toured the new Innovation Center at the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center. The Innovation Center houses workforce service, art and design, and advanced manufacturing and energy efficiency programs. Senator Warner commended the commitment that the community has made to higher education - and called for "more of a Virginia approach" that would bring people together to tackle issues like education and workforce training in Washington DC.

Our third stop involved what the Senator called an "only in America story." Ray Rodriquez, founder of GSO Aviation, was born in Cuba and emigrated to the U.S. at the age of three. He went on to serve in the Marine Corps and then founded an aircraft repair company. When moving the company, he and wife Tere decided on Danville as the best choice based the integrity and community in southside Virginia. GSO will create 15 jobs in Danville with the possibility of more as operations grow.

Next we traveled to Martinsville, where ICF International established a central business operations center earlier this year. ICF expects to employ more than 500 workers in the next three years. We stopped by their temporary location before touring the construction of their new building.

Our final stop was Smith Mountain Lake, where Senator Warner delivered an update from Washington to about 50 community leaders and took questions from the crowd.

We will head to Roanoke tomorrow morning, before heading further down to Southwest Virginia.