Bolling relishing role of Va. jobs creator

When Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling finished a media interview Thursday, he prepared to meet with the head of Hilton Hotels to see if there were any expansion opportunities for the company in the commonwealth.

Hilton moved its headquarters to Fairfax County a year ago.

Today, Bolling flies to Chesapeake to meet with an industrial prospect.

Such is the job these days for the second-term lieutenant governor, who carries the tag of Virginia’s chief job creation officer in the administration of Gov. Bob McDonnell.

“I’ve enjoyed this more than anything I’ve done in 20 years of public service,” Bolling said by telephone from Northern Virginia. “To be playing a role in recruiting business and industry is a lot of work but a lot of fun. The early successes have been encouraging.”

So far, the report card reads that during six months in office, the McDonnell administration has had 110 economic development announcements creating 7,154 jobs and more than $1 billion in capital investment. While about a third of those announcements have involved Northern Virginia, Bolling said the remainder has been equitably distributed across the rest of the state.

Bob Roberts, a James Madison University political scientist, said the McDonnell administration has held its own with economic development. There has been no major announcement like those that characterized the boom time of the 1990s.

“We haven’t seen Honda build an auto plant or a huge company with thousands of jobs,” Roberts said.

While many of Bolling’s stops involve potential new companies, the lieutenant governor, McDonnell and other state economic development leaders have set a goal of meeting with Virginia’s top 125 employers during the first year of the McDonnell administration.

“We talk about things that we could do to help your business,” said Bolling, who added that the ultimate goal is to learn the company’s plans for future growth and what can happen to make that happen in Virginia.

Virginia’s unemployment rate of 7.1 percent is a half-percent lower than when McDonnell took office. Bolling said he is “cautiously optimistic” that there is an end in sight to the economic malaise.

He said the current European debt crisis, commercial and residential real estate values and credit are all still question marks.

Bolling points to Washington, D.C., and the policies of the Obama administration as part of the problem.

“I’ve met with more CEOs in the past six months than anybody in Virginia, and the one thing I constantly hear is concern about the policies coming out of Washington, D.C.,” Bolling said.

The lieutenant governor said businesses have capital and are ready to invest, but they are worried about the developments of the past 18 months in Washington that include financial reform, nationalized health care and deficit spending, as well as ongoing debates on cap-and-trade and union card check legislation.

“The elections are critical in November,” said Bolling. “If the elections go the way we want them to, some balance could be restored, and it could unleash the economy.”

In the meantime, Bolling plans to continue his road show.

“It’s exciting. It is the most important issue facing the state right now,” Bolling said of the economy. “I’m pumped up. What we are doing now is what it
is all about. We must get the economy moving.”

Bolling is the likely Republican nominee for governor in 2013.

Roberts said his position as chief job recruiter could give him added clout, but a lot depends on whether Bolling faces a fight within the party from Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.