This week I joined Senator Rockefeller, FCC Commission Micheal Copps,
local officials and economic development leaders at the Southern West
Virginia Broadband Summit, hosted by the Discover the REAL West Virginia
Foundation at the Glade Springs Resort in Beckley.
The conference was a true eye-opener and I am certain that those in
attendance left the conference, as I did, with some new ideas and
perspective concerning the economic impact of broadband access to
southern West Virginia.
I commend Senator Rockefeller for convening this summit for us to meet,
face to face, with the folks who are in the digital catbird's seat of
making things happen in our State and our Nation.
Considering the recent results of a study coming out of Alliance West
Virginia, this conference could not have come at a more opportune time.
The group polled residents in Barbour, Clay, Lincoln, McDowell, Webster
and Wyoming counties this spring on Internet usage and computer
ownership. Of the 700 people who responded, 71 percent said they owned
computers. When asked how they connected to the Internet, 67 percent
said they still depended on dial-up service.
What does this survey tell us? It tells us that West Virginians are
using the Internet, but that we still have work to do to get all of
these users the kind of high-speed connection and education necessary to
keep up in today's world.
We need to integrate Internet usage into the core curricula -especially
in understanding its capabilities and in terms of mathematics and
engineering get to spur future innovation and new frontiers for the
network.
And while we should start with our youngest students, we can't stop there.
This is why I support the establishment of a human-capital investment
tax credit that would allow companies to write off worker-training
expenses. Such a credit would be an important investment-in our
workforce and in our economy.
Businesses would have an incentive to provide their workers the most
up-to-date training on our most up-to-date technologies. And a better
trained, more diversified workforce would increase efficiency, bring
higher yields and be better able to take advantage of future
technological advances.
Bur most importantly, we need to make sure we employ broadband services
here in the heart of southern West Virginia. In the coming years, our
area will reap the benefits of multi-million dollar federal investments
in new technology centers and business parks in Lewisburg ($1.850
million), Hinton ($1.1 million), Beckley ($1.95 million), and Concord
University ($4.125 million). I obtained these investments knowing that
they would pay for themselves many times over, and already we are
starting to see results.
I hold fast to my commitment to deliver broadband service to the people
of the 3rd Congressional District and work closely with both the private
sector and public entities to explore solutions to the broadband access
and usage challenges that exist for West Virginia.
Technology can, should and will pervade all aspects of our future
economy. I believe that West Virginia ought to quite naturally become
the in-sourcing capital of the world. American companies need not
outsource for their information technology to find a dependable and
reliable workforce at a much-reduced cost of similar operations.
To that end, I have established the Connected Technologies Corridors
Program (CTC), a collaborative effort of development authorities. As
part of my 3Ts plan for economic revitalization, composed of
technology, transportation, and tourism initiatives, and to which
Senator Byrd has wisely suggested we add a fourth T, TEAMWORK, CTC is
leading the charge.
The team is composed of 11 county commissions and more than 50
municipalities, which have come together for the purpose of broadband
development and deployment, entrepreneurial startups, retention and
expansion of technology-based businesses, and regional marketing of what
the 11-county area of southeastern West Virginia has to offer.
The seed funding for this start-up economic development initiative is
being provided by the Benedum Foundation, Verizon West Virginia and
Frontier Communications.
The future, too, is full of promise. Two new programs, the Small
Business Incubator and Entrepreneurial Studies Program at the Rahall
Center at Concord University and a transportation-related business
incubator at the Rahall Transportation Institute will arm entrepreneurs
with the tools they need to not only compete, but thrive in today's
global economy.
We in West Virginia, like most places in our country, have a lot of work
to do when it comes to broadband access. I know America works best when
it works together. This week's conference was evidence of that. With all
of us on the same page, and with broadband access and Internet education
as our priority, we can and we will move mountains.
U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) represents West Virginia's 3rd District
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