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The way I see it is places like Sykes provided jobs for at least some people that otherwise would be sitting at home on welfare.
It's an employer that pays fairly decent for coming into a position without previous job skills. The signs I'm seeing all over the place are saying hiring at $9 and $10 an hour right now. At full time $10 an hour is $1700/month.
The call centers for the most part have replaced the sewing factorys IMHO there is a place of value for them but not anything that will replace mineing type jobs
Those jobs are well and fine, but when the guy that drives the garbage truck makes more than a nurse working at the cancer center, then that is just bad.
What skill does he have versus the skill of an oncology nurse?
Without the RN, nurses don't make much more than the average worker. There is money in radiology tho..
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: greencrest1272</div><div class="ubbcode-body">You honestly believe that $6-$8 an hour jobs at these call centers has helped the people of SWVA??? Give me a break...None of them even employ full-time people...basically its just a fancy McDonald's job.
Broadband has helped UVA-Wise, but beyond any campus community it has done nothing to recruit businesss.
Rocket brings the most valid point of transportation which really is not anyone's fault. Its just geography. </div></div>
At least you have some opportunity there, you can work your way up to a management position. It's better than nothing, and well thats what we had before. Look back at what was here 20 years ago, take away the prisons, the call center, and this power plant that is being built. Now, you tell me where in the world would anybody work? As for broadband, it still has a long way to go, the WiseWiFi is poor, I live in downtown Wise and it doesn't work very well at all. Half the time you can't even connect to it at the college in the gym. I don't see how it's hurt anything though, it's kind of like this sewer deal. You've got to have it to have the potential to do anything down the road. I blows my mind why anybody would be against this, there is so much land in Wise County that wont perk that could get sewer and allow for new residential and commercial areas. The only we've got that has potential 25-50 years from now is UVa-Wise, we need to get on it's back and roll with it. If not we may end up with nothing.
I'm not saying that call centers are necessarily bad, but they are not the economic savior that Boucher and other leaders have touted them to be. I don't think anyone can say that any of the call centers have dramatically improved anybody's way of life in SWVA.
Infastructure is key. Sewer systems are crucial to local growth. I know first hand because my family ran a successful sewer campaign (I know that sounds weird) to get sewer in our neighborhood. Property values increase, it facilitates growth by eliminating the hastle of septic permits and the overall headache of the up keep of septic system.
Do you know what the biggest employer is in Dickenson County? The school system. The tax payers are the number one employer. That is very sad and reflects the overall lack of leadership IMO.
I agree 100% on the sewer. I'm to the point where I every time I watch or read something on the school board or board of supervisors I ended up furious at people from Pound and Appalachia. They are the only ones fighting this consolidation and the sewer. We, (SWVA) as a whole need better roads. Could you imagine how much bigger Wise would be if 81 ran to Wise? The area imo, would be very similar to Radford, Christiansburg, etc. We need something to get people here, and as I said before at this point all we really have is UVa-Wise.
Since when is $20,000 a year a good salary begining or not?
I have worked $8-$10 an hour jobs since I graduated high school and I don't know how anyone could expect to survive on that kind of money.
All I am saying is that we need aggressive business recruitment and call centers are not the answer. I think the power plant in Wise County and the Northrup Gruman deal in Russell County are HUGE steps forward, however, there is still much to be done.
Refusal, is the biggest problem. I don't know about Dickenson County but over here if you want to improve something every Tom, [richard], and Harry will show up complaining about it.
Absolutely...I hate to say this because SWVA people are the best in the world, but it basically boils down to ignorance and naivete.
It' like the Barack Obama is a muslim deal...you just can't break the mold.