WELCOME TO SOUTHERN VIRGINIA — Halifax County School Board Chairman D. H. McDowell welcomed former Gov. Mark Warner to the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center on Tuesday morning by presenting him with several Turbeville cantaloupes. Warner came to the community to discuss issues of broadband last mile connectivity. (SOMcL  photo)


Former Governor Mark Warner came to South Boston Tuesday morning to
talk about last mile solutions for broadband throughout Southside
Virginia. His emphasis was on seeing that public schools and other
educational facilities have access to the information superhighway. But
speaking to a roomful of local business, education and technology
leaders, the former state chief was bombarded with many other
questions, some dealing with health care and others with work force
development issues.
After his nearly 90 minute stopover here, he assured his audience that
he will be back, possibly entering what he termed "the job market."
Warner had visited Martinsville on Monday afternoon and then stopped in
Danville on Tuesday morning before coming to the Southern Virginia
Higher Education Center in Downtown South Boston.
The former governor heads the statewide panel studying "last mile"
telecom plans, and prior to meeting with the public, he talked for
about 45 minutes with education officials from several localities to
find out what their greatest needs are. He recommended that the group
get together with a series of recommendations and set a date in
September to demonstrate the capabilities of the system. That
demonstration, he noted, should show the public the value of enhanced
broadband connectivity.
He told his listeners he is anxious to move forward with the use of
broadband and to ensure that all schools can benefit from the
investment made in it by the Tobacco Commission and federal and state
funding sources. He noted that the United States is 19th in the world
in terms of using broadband telecommunications, but stressed that
Southside Virginia has connectivity as large as anywhere in the nation.
Looking back over the loss of jobs in textiles and tobacco, Warner
commented that in order to compete residents would have to use the
strength of their minds, no longer the strength of their bodies. He
praised the work of local educational facilities, the Southern Virginia
Higher Education Center, the Advanced Institute for Learning in
Danville and Martinsville's New College.
He said the facilities were moving "at light speed" in educating a new
workforce, something that is very necessary for economic development of
the area. Pointing to the state's reputation as being good for
business, Warner reminded his listeners that Forbes for the second year
in a row had named Virginia as the "Best State for Business" and CNBC
had designated Virginia as the "Top State for Business."
It would be embarassing, he noted, for companies to move to the state
and discover that they could not hire trained personnel. That, he said,
is where the educational facilities are working hard — to train a
workforce, and broadband connectivity is vital to bringing that
training here.
  Warner was also questioned about universal health care to which he
responded that it will be the business community, rather than
politicians, who will bring about changes in health insurance. Private
companies, he noted, cannot compete with foreign business when they
have to pay high insurance costs and their competition does not. "Some
kind of universal coverage," he said, "is going to be necessary just to
save our businesses," he said. "Unless we crack the health care crisis,
we will not be able to compete."