The Murray Center in Norfolk was the setting Monday for an Economic Roundtable, the first of a series of such events that gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe plans to hold around the Commonwealth over the next six weeks. From the email announcing the series:
With Virginia facing unprecedented economic challenges, the roundtables will focus on a wide range of issues affecting the economy, including attracting new jobs to the commonwealth, education and workforce training, improving infrastructure, supporting small businesses, and investing in renewable energy technologies to create green jobs. When the economic policy roundtables conclude, McAuliffe will unveil a series of policy initiatives, including ideas collected from his discussions across Virginia.
The conversation on Monday centered around the needs of small businesses, in particular minority and women-owned small businesses, but also included a discussion of education and the role it plays, the Dillon Rule, and the prison population. McAuliffe asked the attendees what they would do if they were governor. Among the ideas floated were the need for minority business set asides, better access to capital, having those within government who manage the various departments that deal with business actually have some business experience themselves and the mentoring of young teachers. Some of the conversation dealt with local issues, such as the lack of recreational facilities for youth. A number of speakers spoke about their own efforts to help those in the community – giving convicted felons jobs, teaching young ladies, and so forth.
In between speakers, McAuliffe spoke about his own plans to increase teacher salaries to the national average, to pursue quality teachers, to do something about the Dillon Rule. He also talked about people having access to him as governor: he wants people to be able to pick up the phone and call him if you have an issue.
He certainly got an earful of ideas from this group. Oh yeah – and a cake! It was his birthday on Monday. Good thing they used the numeral candles instead of individual ones or we might have had to call the fire department 😉 (I can say that only because he’s older than I am.)
Tuesday, McAuliffe will be in Martinsville for a Jobs Creation Economic Roundtable.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 