As I step into the role of chairman of SGA, I want to thank my fellow Southern governors for their support and assistance in carrying forward the SGA tradition of regional consensus and collaboration. For 74 years, SGA has provided a bipartisan forum for us to exchange ideas, explore common issues, address pressing problems, coordinate regional collaborative initiatives, promote regional accomplishments and help shape and implement national policy, all to make the future of the region’s next generation brighter and more prosperous. Our collaboration also has extended to private sector leaders, as witnessed by the strong showing of many industry sectors at SGA’s 2007Annual Meeting in Biloxi and over the past several decades.

The coming year will be no exception. In addition to the many ongoing issues already included in SGA’s work program – economic development, education, energy, environment and health and human services – I have begun to work with SGA staff to develop a dialogue between Southern governors and CEOs of companies in key industries in our region focused on developing a strong competitive workforce.

My fellow governors and I recognize that there are any number of industries struggling to access pools of qualified, skilled talent that meet their unique needs. I hear the request over and over again from a variety of businesses looking to open facilities in West Virginia, and I, along with my colleagues throughout the South, continue to drive state resources toward programs that will help meet the needs of these potential employers.

Every governor wants to attract companies to his or her state that will offer good-paying jobs for their citizens. We also know that companies cannot be truly successful if they don’t have educated, trained and skilled workers to produce their product in a cost-efficient and timely manner. Good employers and skilled, reliable workers just go hand-in-hand. And it is important for all of us in state government to recognize that when it comes to jobs, we are not competing with each other anymore; we are competing globally. Our policies and initiatives should be shaped accordingly.

In the coming year through a collaborative process, I hope we can work together to identify critical steps that governors and industry leaders can take both independently and together to address the workforce question. I also hope to explore with my colleagues strategies and pathways to better align state expenditures of resources in workforce development with the needs of the businesses that are the targets of our individual economic development plans. In this way, we will be able to ensure that our region offers a strong pool of educated, trained and skilled workers for industries that any one of our states may be working to attract according to our respective economic development plans.

In closing, I want to again thank my fellow governors for their continued interest and willingness to work together for the benefit of the Southern region, and I’d like to thank the many corporate supporters who have been involved in SGA. I look forward to working with each you in the coming year to ensure the successful outcome of our collective efforts.