The day after two Southern Virginia groups visited the Capitol to express their concerns over lifting the ban on uranium mining in Virginia, Governor Bob McDonnell has asked the General Assembly to kee the moratorium in place for the 2012 session. We applaud the Governor for taking the cautious route. 

We desperately need jobs in our region but must weigh the potential risks before making such an important decision; given that the NAS report was just released in December, there is absolutely no way that lawmakers could have studied it and other reports fully. One only needs ask the citizens of New Orleans and Fukushima about the failure of designs in the face of catastrophic natural disasters.  Read the full press release on ReadTheReports.org.

From The News & Record

If Southside Virginia painted Gov. Bob McDonnell as a green Grinch for announcing the closing of Mecklenbrg Correctional Center last week, it surely saw Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling as bright-red Santa Claus himself today as he announced that the 150 new workers would be employed by … Virginia Dominion Power.

Bolling made the announcement at Riverstone Centre on Thursday morning before a buoyant audience of community leaders, some wearing festive touches for the season.

"What a great time," said Bolling, citing the pre-Christmas date. Halifax County has known for months about the jobs – most of the community just didn't know exactly who the employer would be, as economic developers had wanted to keep the name under wraps.

There's still time to get your application in!  The job fair seeking to fill 150 positions for a new call center in Halifax County is being held at Riverstone Centre, Riverstone Technology Park in South Boston.  The fair is being conducted by Virginia Employment Commission.

Though the advertisement noted mainframe experience, this experience would be from the user end - not as a technology expert.  Many people have interacted with a main frame without ever knowing it, so don't let that deter you from applying for these positions.  Positions require a high school diploma or equivalent, knowledge of Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, and Outlook) excellent interpersonal communications both in writing and on the telephone and proficiency in keyboarding/data entry.

The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) One-Stop in South Boston, VA will be sponsoring a Job Fair starting Monday October 31st  at 9:00 AM  and continue until 7:00 PM at Riverstone Centre. This Job Fair is being conducted to support a single employer for a planned new Customer Contact Center that may locate in Halifax County.

The VEC is looking for people with experience in Customer Contact, Customer Service, Customer Care, Call Center Operations, Back Office, Administrative, Clerical or Data Entry.

Congratulations to Lindstrand USA for being selected as a finalist in the University of Virginia's Tayloe Murphy Resilience Award - a competition that recognizes successful Virginia businesses that have been working in communities facing economic challenges ; the company will go on to compete to be one of five winners.  Lindstrand manufactures the most advanced lighter-than-air vehicles and air inflatables in the world.

Last year Lindstrand created the world's largest aerostat for the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India.  View a photo gallery of the aerostat at the Commonwealth Games.