Governor Earl Ray Tomblin Story Archives - Page 31 of 32

Italian manufacturer bringing 250 jobs to Wayne County

An Italian based automotive parts manufacturer announced plans to more than double the work force of their West Virginia location. Sogefi USA will add 250 jobs to their Wayne County plant as they create a new line of parts for General Motors vehicles.

“Today, thanks to our collaborative efforts and hard work, 250 West Virginians can look forward to good paying new jobs,” Governor Tomblin said as he made the announcement at Sogefi USA’s manufacturing plant in Wayne County Tuesday morning.

A $20 million investment by the Italian company will more than double the plant’s workforce from 160, adding 250 new positions over the next five years

“The 250 jobs we’re talking about are more important than number on a piece of paper,” Tomblin said. “They’re 250 people who will be able to put food on the table, 250 people who will take pride in working for a world class company like Sogefi and they’re 250 West Virginians who will get good paying jobs right here at home.”

Two-hundred and fifty people like Frank Workman, a maintenance technician who started at the Prichard location when they opened in 2004. Workman said Tuesday the added jobs will be good for a county whose unemployment rate sits at more than 6 percent.

“I think this community needs it. There are a lot of people looking for jobs and it’s a great opportunity for the community, this state and all of the people that are involved,” he said.

The manufacturing plant produces automotive parts, including gasoline, diesel and oil filters and cooling modules. Beginning next year, the plant will start producing engine air intake manifolds, creating the need for additional technology and workers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwoNjCczD3U

Sogefi currently employs a variety of personnel at their Prichard location, from the assembly line to warehouses, from accountants to industrial engineers. General Manager Troy Thomas said positions will be added in all departments to handle the increased production.

“Think about this for a moment, over 25 vehicle models that you pass every day on the road are supplied from this plant and that’s soon going to grow,” Thomas said during a press conference at the plant. “So, it’s impossible to miss the product that we produce in this plant.”

Sogefi General Manager Troy Thomas show Governor Tomblin and Department of Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette engine parts manufactured at the Wayne County plant.

The expansion announcement comes after a 13-day investment trip the governor and members of the state Department of Commerce took to Europe in October. There, they met and encouraged businesses to locate or expand their locations in the state, including a private meeting with Sogefi’s CEO Guglielmo Fiocchi in Paris.

Thomas said the international company had planned expansions in North America before meeting with the governor, but his involvement encouraged Sogefi to expand in Wayne County.

“Sogefi’s plan for expansion in North America didn’t necessarily have to be located here in Prichard. There were other states that competed hard for that investment and those jobs, like every state does,” he said, “but obviously we’ve had a good experience here and the governor helped to seal the deal to make sure that Sogefi’s expansion, for this product line, is going to be located here in Prichard.”

“Anytime a company is making that type of announcement, that type of an investment, it shows that they have some faith in West Virginia,” Tomblin said after the announcement. “I think the changes we have made by privatizing worker’s comp, lowering the taxes and so forth, the work force training that we offer in West Virginia is one being noticed.”

Sogefi will begin adding position in January of next year to start producing its newest line of parts for General Motors.

Should the state keep tolls on the W.Va. Turnpike after 2019?

As the state moves closer to paying off its bond debt associated with the West Virginia Turnpike, lawmakers are starting to consider what to do with the roadway. The ideas being discussed in the halls of the Capitol, however, always make their way a few miles down I-77 to the state Parkways Authority’s headquarters.

A bill originally introduced during the 2013 Legislative Session is being hashed out by legislators during interim meetings. Co-sponsored by Senator Bill Cole of Mercer County, he says it helps diminish the burden on the Turnpike counties.

“Senator Chafin and I introduced a bill that would try and take a small piece, less than 4 percent of the total revenue proceeds of the Turnpike and invest it back in the counties that the Turnpike runs through,” Cole said after an interim meeting in July.

The total price tag: $4 million, one million each for Kanawaha, Raleigh, Mercer and Fayette counties to invest in infrastructure or economic development projects.

But because of the contract attached to the bond, revenues brought in by tolls can only be used to pay off the debt. That debt is set to be settled in 2019, but Governor Tomblin’s designee to the Parkways Authority Jason Pizatella said until then, it’s illegal for the state to touch that money.

“We could not implement the proposal that Senator Chafin has discussed and I’m sure will offer during the 2014 regular session,” Pizatella said. “So, it would be up to him to work with the Parkways Authority to craft a proposal that we could realistically implement.”

In other words, realistically, that proposal would have to be implemented after 2019.

But just because the Parkways Authority Board Members are saying the state would have to wait before the counties could receive funds from Turnpike revenues, doesn’t mean they don’t support it.

“When the bonds are paid off, I wanted to keep that money in this end of the state,” said Board member and lifelong Mercer County resident Bill Seaver during a Parkways Authority meeting Thursday.

Seaver said he presented a plan to the Governor to continue the tolls on the Turnpike, in part to help the state maintain the road, but also to put money toward southern infrastructure projects.

“When the tolls are paid off in 2019, I want to keep the tolls on the Turnpike,” he said. “We have to to maintain it. The Department of Transportation can’t take care of it, but I want the excess money when we’re not paying the bonds anymore spent at a point from Charleston south to the tunnels the width of West Virginia, just on projects in southern West Virginia.”

He said projects like completing major roadways and replacing bridges throughout the region are crucial to the economic future of the entire state, and believed the proposal by the Blue Ribbon Commission on Highways is just not a viable option.

“They’re not going to be able to come in and raise the tolls on the Turnpike and then take that money and spend it all over the state. I just don’t see that happening. I don’t think the Governor would put that forth and have us sell more bonds to go off into the future,” Seaver said, “but I think if we do this we can take certain amounts of money for major projects, complete the part in Mercer County, pay for it over a five year period with toll revenues and other projects throughout the southern end of the state.”

Pizatella, who also serves as Chair of the Blue Ribbon Commission, said he heard the concerns Seaver and many other southern West Virginians have about the Turnpike and tried to work a compromise in to the Blue Ribbon’s proposal to the Governor.

“As part of our proposal, 25 percent of the bond revenue that would be realized from using the Turnpike to fund other projects would stay in southern West Virginia and stay in the four counties because we think that the citizens and motorists of southern West Virginia deserve that money,” he said. “So, I think that we will be able to find some middle ground as we go forward with this proposal.”

Pizatella said they have plenty of time to find that so-called middle ground because, again, nothing new can be done with toll revenues until 2019.

Seaver said he would also like to see the Governor commit $75,000 each year for the next six years to the four counties as a reimbursement for their toll costs when bussing students to and from school and to help seniors paying tolls as they travel for access to healthcare.

Technicians returning to work, but National Guard still facing challenges

A majority of the furloughed West Virginia National Guard members and support staff are returning to work this week because of a movement in Congress to extend military pay to reserve members.

But the state’s top-ranking Guard official said a return to work doesn’t mean those members, and the overall safety of the state, won’t continue to be affected by the federal government shut down.

“The Guard in West Virginia will overcome obstacles and we’ll make things happen to take care of our people in this state, but we shouldn’t have to operate this way.”

Adjutant General James Hoyer made his plea to Congress during a press conference at the West Virginia National Guard headquarters in Charleston, saying its time to put an end to the federal government shut down.

“We are starting to experience degraded readiness in the West Virginia National Guard as a result of this. There are 53 other National Guard organizations across the country that are experiencing the same problems,” Hoyer said Tuesday, “so if you look a that in a holistic approach, we’re starting to really effect our ability to protect our nation and our homeland.”

Money, he said, is a major part of that problem. Money to pay for employees, facilities and supplies.

As Congress prepared for the federal shut down last week, they passed House Resolution 3210 to continue to fund the military; however, Hoyer said the resolution was interpreted by the Department of Defense to mean only active duty members.

In order to keep some 389 military authority employees working, or state employees whose salaries are reimbursed by the federal government, Hoyer and his team began postponing infrastructure maintenance projects around the state and shifting the money to cover those salary costs. Those costs have added up to around $300,000 a week.

“I’ve only got a $16 million dollar state budget and the longer they go, the longer I wait for the reimbursement,” he said. “So, we can only to a certain threshold of pain.”

“Right now we can go to the 16 at noon unless we sit down and come up with another project that we push back.”

After the 16 and without another source of funding, should the federal shut down continue, Hoyer said the state may have to furlough those workers.

As for the 1,150 federally funded civilian technician positions who were furloughed beginning October 1, Hoyer said nearly 1,000 of those returned to work this week. That return came after Congress lobbied for the federal Department of Defense to loosen the restrictions on that same House Resolution.

Guard and reserve employees will now also receive pay for their return to work that began Monday, but Hoyer said, again, until a budget is passed, he has no idea how long it will take for that money to actually come.

On top of salary issues, Hoyer said his Guard members haven’t been able to train, keep up with vehicle and air craft maintenance, and provide services to active duty families and veterans.

Without keeping up on all of these, he said should an emergency occur, it will take the Guard longer to prepare and respond.

“One way or the other, West Virginia Guardsmen will be where they need to be to take care of the people of West Virginia,” he said. “Now, it might be in a different fashion and it’s going to be a hell of a lot more painful for us in the Guard to get to where we need to be.

“Is that fair to the men and women who go out and do that? That we have to put them in a position that they have to go the extra above and beyond when we don’t have to be in this position?”

Hoyer added there are three new military helicopters for the Guard that should have been picked up on October 1 to replace aging state equipment.

As of now, there are no funds to move those helicopters, leaving the Guard in short supply should there be an emergency.

That and similar issues, Hoyer said, will lead to delays in response as they try to come up with new ways to deliver supplies or conduct rescue missions.

Tomblin to travel Europe promoting W.Va. industries

Governor Tomblin announced a trip later this month touring 5 European countries to lobby business leaders for investment in West Virginia industries.The…

Governor Tomblin announced a trip later this month touring 5 European countries to lobby business leaders for investment in West Virginia industries.

The 13 day trip is scheduled for mid-October and has the governor and three members of the state’s Development Office meeting with business leaders in Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy.

Tomblin said he will be focusing on strengthening the relationships West Virginia has with companies already doing business in the state as well as targeting some who are considering investing.

One of the main focuses is a plastic-polymer trade show in which the governor said the state can offer the abundant bi-products of the Marcellus shale industry, in particular ethane, to the industries for production.

“My whole goal is to create jobs and bring investment to the state of West Virginia and my theory has been you can’t sit and wait for business to come through the door,” Tomblin said during a press conference Tuesday. “You have to go out and let people know what we have to offer in West Virginia and that’s what we hope to do on this mission.”

Nearly one-third, or $11.3 billion in West Virginia’s annual exports go to Europe.

The governor’s office has not yet released the amount this trip will cost the state.

Legislative audit shows state purchasing laws not followed

Legislative auditors told an interim legislative committee the state's $38 million expansion of a statewide microwave communications network ignored West…

Legislative auditors told an interim legislative committee the state’s $38 million expansion of a statewide microwave communications network ignored West Virginia purchasing laws. Legislative leaders say they’re committed to reviewing the purchase process to prevent future misconduct.

The audit says the state grant implementation team didn’t seek competitive bids for the tower project. Instead, they used a Lewis County Commission contract to authorize Premier Construction to build the new towers.

The statewide plan includes building 12 towers and refurbishing five others to fill a gap in the microwave communication system for law enforcement and other first responders.

Lewis County had hired Premier in 2009 to build one microwave tower as a part of that plan in Roanoke.
State rules allow purchases from contracts issued by other public bodies, but the audit says state Purchasing Director David Tincher wasn’t asked to approve using Lewis County’s contract for the state project.

According to the audit, Tincher advised state officials to stop the towers’ construction, but his request wasn’t followed.

Senate President Jeff Kessler and House Speaker Tim Miley said in a release they have already begun a thorough review of the state’s purchasing laws and will to determine if there is the need for new legislation.

A representative of the governor’s office said Governor Tomlin will embrace the audit’s suggestions and plans to ask lawmakers to consider implementing legislation based on the report’s findings.

Integrated Behavorial Health Conference tackles drug abuse, other mental health issues

West Virginia’s substance abuse problem is one focus of the Integrated Behavioral Health Conference in Charleston this week. Professionals from health…

West Virginia’s substance abuse problem is one focus of the Integrated Behavioral Health Conference in Charleston this week. Professionals from health care, government and law enforcement are meeting to find the best ways to handle substance abuse and other mental health needs.

Department of Health and Human Resources Cabinet Secretary Karen Bowling said the idea of the conference began a couple years ago and that the goal is to combine resources in hopes of learning and progressing the field.

“Whether it’s medical professionals, policy makers, law enforcement –we all go at the idea of behavioral health services and substance abuse from a different angle. Bringing individuals together with expert speakers and continuing education credits and really making sure we’ve covered the full gamut of individuals who are dealing with our citizens who are in need of behavioral health services will help us think more collaboratively,” said Bowling.

Governor Earl Ray Tomblin outlined a few collaborative efforts to combat substance abuse in an opening keynote speech, which touched on regional drug task forces, prescription disposal centers, and the justice reinvestment act from this past legislative session. He also announced a $9 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that’s been awarded to the state.

“Over the course of five years these federal monies will help expand prevention services state-wide by focusing on prescription drug and alcohol abuse,” Tomblin explained

The Deputy Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Michael Botticelli, participated in the opening panel discussion at the conference. He said the emphasis on prevention and other collaborative efforts can in some way be attributed to an evolution of perceptions surrounding substance abuse and addiction.

“I think under this Administration we’re really looked at and moved away from this 'War on Drugs' mentality and really focused this issue as a public health-related issue—acknowledging that substance abuse is a disease and that people can get treatment and do recover. One of the issues that is really important to us is how we make sure people are getting good care,” said Botticelli.

Clinical Assistant Professor of Marshall University’s Pharmacy School Brian Gallagher said getting quality care that combats substance abuse means all corners of the health care industry need to be involved, including pharmacists and pharmaceutical companies.

“Everybody has a component in this and I think the part in dealing with the pharmaceutical industry is that they’re recognizing that they don’t want their drugs taken off the market. They don’t want it to be so restrictive that the patients can’t get access to those drugs,” said Gallagher.

“We need to make sure we strike an appropriate balance: the patients who actually need the drugs are able to get them while we’re keeping them out of the hands of the people who abuse them. It’s striking that balance that’s important and working with the pharmaceutical industry and every body involved.”

Asked what type of costs might be associated with potential changes in policy, Secretary Bowling said the state will first look for other grant opportunities. But, she expects any spending in the short term will inevitably save the state money and hopefully will reduce health care costs for individuals.

“If we focus our attention on the right things for the people that we serve, in the long run it’s going to actually reduce costs to the system,” said Bowling.

“What we have to make sure we’re doing is thinking about the client in a holistic manner, that we are looking the physical and the behavioral aspect of care and making sure we’re doing the right thing, at the right place, at the right time.”

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources is sponsoring the inaugural conference which runs through Thursday at the Charleston Civic Center.