I agree 100% Jim. If a factory were to start up in my county next week, I doubt they could fill their positions. Too many lazy, drugged up people being paid by Uncle Sam to stay at the house here. I have a friend that is in the manufacturing business and he says it's a constant revolving door for quitters and drug test failures.

 

That's why we need to get every pound of coal out of them hills, and hopefully there will be something come along for those that want to work.

 

Don't get me wrong, there are many in my county that work. They work from the coal fields to Toyota in Georgetown. Some factory job that pays $9 an hour won't draw them away from those jobs though.

 

 

Hard to turn away $26.50 an hour for $9..

I think people understimate the potential workforce in Appalachia. I think the Pikeville area could support a large number of jobs and businesses could undoubtedly pay less $$ than if they located somewhere more urban.

I didn't say there wasn't. Just that there are more attractive places, with a higher percentage of skilled and educated workers living there. I don't like that fact, but it is one nonetheless.

 

 

 

How long has that industrial park at Pound Gap lain dormant? You can offer up reclaimed strip jobs all you want. It's not a case of "if you build it, they will come." Not in Eastern Ky, anyway. The combination of poor transportation access and a relatively unskilled and uneducated work force is a hindrance to efforts to bring outside jobs into the mountains. It's just an unfortunate fact.

 

Same problems hit Southside VA. For decades the local owners of the Textiles and Furniture kept other industry out in order to supply jobs that paid a decent wage and required little education or skill. Generations left schools at 15 or 16 and worked in the Mills. Now that the 2nd or more generation has been left with empty factories, there is a problem for Little Johnny. He's never seen the value of an education and Dad and Grandpa can't help support him at home with that education because they don't have skills to help with Algebra homework or English assignments.

I think people understimate the potential workforce in Appalachia. I think the Pikeville area could support a large number of jobs and businesses could undoubtedly pay less $$ than if they located somewhere more urban.

 

Maybe so, but the fact still remains those companies would be paying more in transportation costs than they would somewhere else that was better positioned along the interstate system. The long-planned I-66 corridor would help in this regard, but it's not a magic bullet.

 

Plus, there just aren't a whole lot of new manufacturing being created anywhere in the US, and companies aren't interested in waiting until the people in a potential relocation get trained-up or educated-up to the point where even a place like Pikeville could provide the people needed by a company requiring a highly-skilled and/or highly-educated workforce (read, tech jobs, etc.).

 

And, another obvious strike against Appalachia is the well-documented drug problem.

The lack of good roads for transportation is a great point.

Maybe so, but the fact still remains those companies would be paying more in transportation costs than they would somewhere else that was better positioned along the interstate system. The long-planned I-66 corridor would help in this regard, but it's not a magic bullet.

 

Plus, there just aren't a whole lot of new manufacturing jobs being created anywhere in the US, and companies aren't interested in waiting until the people in a potential relocation area get trained-up or educated-up to the point where even a place like Pikeville could provide the people needed by a company requiring a highly-skilled and/or highly-educated workforce (read, tech jobs, etc.).

 

And, another obvious strike against Appalachia is the well-documented drug problem.

 

You can tell I was working on only about 3 hours of sleep this morning, as I left out several words I needed to make my point more coherent. I've bolded and italicized them for the readers' benefit.

Same problems hit Southside VA. For decades the local owners of the Textiles and Furniture kept other industry out in order to supply jobs that paid a decent wage and required little education or skill. Generations left schools at 15 or 16 and worked in the Mills. Now that the 2nd or more generation has been left with empty factories, there is a problem for Little Johnny. He's never seen the value of an education and Dad and Grandpa can't help support him at home with that education because they don't have skills to help with Algebra homework or English assignments.

 

Talk to a friend of mine from VA, Who will turn 70 in August, Told him about what you were saying with the Textile and Furniture And he laughed. I'm not taking a shot you at all...I respect your opinion very much, He said while they were there, They didnt have much effect on anything...

 

One mans opinion...He's set in his ways

That's completely ridiculous and you know it, and you know I would advocate no such extreme response — don't try to paint me that way.

 

The fact still remains that we are consuming farmland and green space at way too fast a rate. What's wrong with responsible growth? Why can't there be a middle ground?

 

The middle ground is the need for new homes. Where are you going to put these additional people? cities expand, small towns grow and new urban areas are created. Some really ggod farmland has disappeared, but some so-so farm land has also disappeared. As our population grows so will the need to build additional home, stores, schools, highways, etc.

 

I do not like it either, I left Campbell Co. because of its growth and now Pendleton is starting to grow, although not like Campbell. It is about business, if a farmer is not making a living he can sell his land and may be set for life.

:lol:

Talk to a friend of mine from VA, Who will turn 70 in August, Told him about what you were saying with the Textile and Furniture And he laughed. I'm not taking a shot you at all...I respect your opinion very much, He said while they were there, They didnt have much effect on anything...

 

One mans opinion...He's set in his ways

 

I understand. He's clueless on the history of Virginia.

 

Henry County (where I reside) once had the largest per capita of millionaires in the state. In fact, ask him who A.L. Philpott was. He was Speaker of the House for Years and one of the most powerful men in Virginia. From Henry County. IN fact it was the tax money from Martinsville/Henry County and Southside that built the infrastructure to Northern Virginia. Now the state forgets this end because there is no old time politician like Philpott or Governor Stanley.

 

Truth is that Martinsville was once labeled the "Sweatshirt Capitol of the World" because of the presence of Dupont, Tultex, VF Knitwear and Bassett-Walker Textiles, Pannil Knitting and eventually Sara Lee. In nearby (still Henry County) Marshall Fields built Fieldale and established one of their bigger Fieldcrest-Cannon factories there. (As well as a Mountain resort) Pillowtex eventually moved into that factory.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannon_Mills_Company

 

As to Furniture, where do you think Stanley Furniture, Bassett Furniture all originated from? Henry County. (If you've ever been in the market for office furniture and high end home furniture you would know those names.)

 

http://www.bassettfurniture.com/company/index.asp

 

http://www.stanleyfurniture.com/About+Us/Our+History/A+history+of+excellence./59

 

 

Today, the area sits with double digit unemployment since 1999. The history of the county is lined with many names that own much of the property, buildings and facilities that once were thriving industries. Yep, they never had much influence. :lol: Whoever "he" is, I assure you; he either doesn't know as much about this area as he let on to you or he chooses to see it in another light. :thumb:

:lol:

 

I understand. He's clueless on the history of Virginia.

 

Henry County (where I reside) once had the largest per capita of millionaires in the state. In fact, ask him who A.L. Philpott was. He was Speaker of the House for Years and one of the most powerful men in Virginia. From Henry County. IN fact it was the tax money from Martinsville/Henry County and Southside that built the infrastructure to Northern Virginia. Now the state forgets this end because there is no old time politician like Philpott or Governor Stanley.

 

Truth is that Martinsville was once labeled the "Sweatshirt Capitol of the World" because of the presence of Dupont, Tultex, VF Knitwear and Bassett-Walker Textiles, Pannil Knitting and eventually Sara Lee. In nearby (still Henry County) Marshall Fields built Fieldale and established one of their bigger Fieldcrest-Cannon factories there. (As well as a Mountain resort) Pillowtex eventually moved into that factory.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannon_Mills_Company

 

As to Furniture, where do you think Stanley Furniture, Bassett Furniture all originated from? Henry County. (If you've ever been in the market for office furniture and high end home furniture you would know those names.)

 

http://www.bassettfurniture.com/company/index.asp

 

http://www.stanleyfurniture.com/About+Us/Our+History/A+history+of+excellence./59

 

 

Today, the area sits with double digit unemployment since 1999. The history of the county is lined with many names that own much of the property, buildings and facilities that once were thriving industries. Yep, they never had much influence. :lol: Whoever "he" is, I assure you; he either doesn't know as much about this area as he let on to you or he chooses to see it in another light. :thumb:

 

I would believe he chooses to see it in another life, But coal made his Millions...Could be the reason he acted the way he did..

The middle ground is the need for new homes. Where are you going to put these additional people? cities expand, small towns grow and new urban areas are created. Some really ggod farmland has disappeared, but some so-so farm land has also disappeared. As our population grows so will the need to build additional home, stores, schools, highways, etc.

 

I do not like it either, I left Campbell Co. because of its growth and now Pendleton is starting to grow, although not like Campbell. It is about business, if a farmer is not making a living he can sell his land and may be set for life.

 

There are plenty of empty houses and other buildings closer to or within cities that are just ripe and ready for rehabilitation. It's completely nonsensical for people to drive 45 minutes to an hour one-way to go to work.

There are plenty of empty houses and other buildings closer to or within cities that are just ripe and ready for rehabilitation. It's completely nonsensical for people to drive 45 minutes to an hour one-way to go to work.

 

At this time there are plenty of homes. But hey, it is a free country isn't? Or are the environmentalists going to change that? I believe their trying with cap and steal, oh that's trade, they want to stop people from driving cars and trucks they like, hoping to drive gas sky-high so they drive costly, weak, unsafe, so-called energy efficient cars and trucks.

 

My vision of freedom is that if you want to live in the city and drive an electric car or a hybrid go for it. It also means that if a person wants to live in the country and it takes them 30-45-60 minutes to get to work in a vechile of their choice, they have the freedom to make that choice. At least at the moment it is still a free country to make that choice. To tax anything higher, gas or bigger cars and trucks , is just a form of taking freedom away from someone. But elitists like to tell the peasants how to live their lives, afterall their just so smart they know what is best for everyone.

When I typed post #57 I had not read the new tax thread. Taking away the right to make choices for ourselves, because there are people who want the power to control others.

I would like to tack on an amendment to that mileage tax. We should weigh everyone on their birthdays and for every pound their overweight they have to pay $100 to help pay for health care.

At this time there are plenty of homes. But hey, it is a free country isn't? Or are the environmentalists going to change that? I believe their trying with cap and steal, oh that's trade, they want to stop people from driving cars and trucks they like, hoping to drive gas sky-high so they drive costly, weak, unsafe, so-called energy efficient cars and trucks.

 

My vision of freedom is that if you want to live in the city and drive an electric car or a hybrid go for it. It also means that if a person wants to live in the country and it takes them 30-45-60 minutes to get to work in a vechile of their choice, they have the freedom to make that choice. At least at the moment it is still a free country to make that choice. To tax anything higher, gas or bigger cars and trucks , is just a form of taking freedom away from someone. But elitists like to tell the peasants how to live their lives, afterall their just so smart they know what is best for everyone.

 

I could care less about all this, and don't try to paint me as a tree-hugger. I just want to stop lining the pockets of the oil sheikhs, and the best way for us to do this is to live closer to where we work. If people weren't making unnecessary extended daily commutes to work, hybrids and electric cars would be a moot issue.

I could care less about all this, and don't try to paint me as a tree-hugger. I just want to stop lining the pockets of the oil sheikhs, and the best way for us to do this is to live closer to where we work. If people weren't making unnecessary extended daily commutes to work, hybrids and electric cars would be a moot issue.

 

I tend to agree with the previous poster about living and working where we choose. How about using ALL of our own resources while developing more instead of lining the pockets of the oil sheikhs?