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Kaine on Hand for Workforce Center Opening
The governor says the purpose of the center is to provide employment services to those who need the help. Kaine says he's seeing some positive signs in Virginia, but that there's still a lot of work to do in the Southside.
He hopes the one-stop workforce center will help people improve their training and find jobs in the Southside, an area that really needs the help.
“The job industry around here isn't very good at all," southside resident Irene Sessioa said.
Sessioa says she's tired of young people, like her son and her niece, leaving the area to look for work.
"They left the area because there were no jobs around here for them and they decided to move to other states and look for jobs," Sessioa said.
Kaine says Virginia has the lowest unemployment rate among any large state, but he knows southside has been hit hard.
"Our average isn't average all around the state so there are parts of the state that are hit harder, so in southside the unemployment rate is between 12-13 percent. So that means we've got some very particular work to do here," Kaine said.
Kaine says the workforce system was too fragmented. They've been working around the state to combine agencies into one center. He's says he's glad two of the first centers are opening in Danville and South Boston.
"Obviously in a tough time we wanna be at our best as we're serving folks who want to get more skills or businesses who are looking for skills for their employees," Kaine said.
The governor is optimistic that the new year will hopefully bring new jobs.
"By late spring early summer of 2010 we'll all feel ok the economy is going in a good upward path," Kaine said.
Southside residents, hope he's right.
"As long as people stay positive and try hard and work at it, things are gonna get better, they have to," Janet said.
Kaine says these centers will offer multiple services in one location. You can file unemployment claims, learn how to write a resume and look for jobs, making life a little easier for those in a tough situation.
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