From the Desk of U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd

My Top Priority Remains West Virginia’s Economic Renewal

By: U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd
Issue: Fall 2009

These are tough times for our nation’s economy. Companies have been shedding jobs at an alarming rate. Millions of hardworking Americans have lost their jobs, and job creation has been extremely slow.

Even our workforce in West Virginia, despite the mining presence in our state, has felt the impact of this painful global recession. According to statistics from WorkForce West Virginia, almost 23,000 jobs have been lost in the Mountain State since December 2007. That total includes 7,600 in manufacturing and 1,700 in mining and logging.

Many companies that have a long tradition in West Virginia have reduced their workforce or have closed their doors altogether: Century Aluminum, Dow Chemical, AGC Flat Glass, The Greenbrier resort hotel and Simonton Windows are just a few of the companies that have had to make hard decisions about their future and the future of their hard-working West Virginia employees.

My top priority remains West Virginia’s economic renewal. I have worked to create new job opportunities for those who want to stay in their native West Virginia, and to provide richer, fuller lives for their children. Rest assured, these efforts will continue.

The Congress and the federal government have joined as partners with our state and local governments to help put Americans back on the road to recovery. Earlier this year Congress passed and President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which will jumpstart our idling economy and help create and restore jobs in West Virginia, as well as help those who are struggling to make ends meet. Money in the act for West Virginia has begun to address needed infrastructure repairs, including the backlog of drinking and clean water infrastructure needs. Over the next 18 months, West Virginia is in line to receive more than $200 million in highway, mass transit and airport improvements funding for “shovelready” projects.

Federal funds also are being utilized to repair and renovate schools, weatherize homes and buildings, make improvements to the Bluestone Dam, improve our VA Medical Centers and National Guard facilities and enhance the operations of many of our community health centers.

These projects are keeping people on the job and allowing companies to hire additional personnel to put these stimulus funds to work.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that was signed into law is helping to mitigate this economic downturn. It achieves the principal goals of creating and saving jobs, of cutting taxes for working families, of helping to aid those who are out of work, and of investing in the long-term growth of the U.S. economy.

But West Virginia has also been somewhat protected through this recession by the strong presence of the federal government in our state. During my career, I have devoted significant time and energy toward attracting federal operations and installations to West Virginia as a means of providing well-paying stable employment to the state and to provide the federal government with low-cost and quality operations. As a result of these efforts, today, more than 25 federal operations have relocated to the state. In total, these agencies support nearly 10,000 federal and contractor personnel and represent a $1.4 billion annual infusion in West Virginia’s economy for general operations. These figures do not take into account the numerous private sector firms that have come to the state to conduct business with these federal facilities, thereby creating even more jobs and opportunities.

As the senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, when I have learned that federal agencies had particular needs, I have urged them to look at West Virginia to see if there might be a site that would meet their criteria. A few of those matches have included the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division in Harrison County, the U.S. Coast Guard’s National Maritime Center in Berkeley County and the Customs and Border Protection’s Advanced Training Facility in Jefferson County. By bringing these federal facilities to our state, I have sought not only to provide good paying jobs, but also to help build our state’s technological and economic base.

Additionally, I have worked over the years to match the needs of the Department of Defense with the capabilities of companies located in West Virginia. As a result of those efforts, many companies in West Virginia are building assemblies for military aircraft; building national defense weapons and components; developing unique materials for Department of Defense applications; improving government access to, and analysis of, critical information, and supporting priority homeland security and Global War on Terror missions.

One of the areas in which I am particularly proud is the efforts that are under way at RCBI to train Funding I obtained long ago to establish the Advanced Flexible Manufacturing Center is one of the best examples of how a public/private partnership can aid manufacturers and those seeking jobs in the manufacturing sector or seeking retraining opportunities to obtain the skills, research, information, and training that will aid them in their job searches or help West Virginia companies maintain a competitive advantage in our global economy.

Yet another promising arena for the creation of new jobs is the research that is being conducted at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). The NETL facility in Morgantown is carrying out high-risk, high-value research that can accelerate the development of new technologies for producing energy from coal, oil and natural gas in a more environmentally friendly and efficient manner. With significant boosts in funding from the federal government for the advancement of clean coal technologies, NETL stands on the cusp of research breakthroughs and the jobs that will ensue.

I have also helped our state’s colleges and universities obtain federal funding for a myriad of projects and research initiatives, including those fostering advancements in health care, energy, forestry, transportation, manufacturing, the environment and forensic science. Programs at these institutions also will help to train our state’s workforce to participate in the new industries and fields becoming available in West Virginia.

Working with our partners on the state and local levels over the years, we have successfully identified needs throughout the state and matched federal funding to those needs to create jobs and revitalize communities. Downtown revitalization efforts, projects that benefit low- or moderate-income neighborhoods, renovations of historic buildings, local infrastructure improvements, and development of public parks and facilities are but a few examples of efforts to strengthen the quality of life for the many diverse communities throughout the state.

U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd has represented West Virginia in the Senate since 1959, making him the longest-serving Senator in U.S. history. Before taking his seat in the Senate, he served in the House of Representatives, the West Virginia House of Delegates and the West Virginia State Senate. He has never lost an election.

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