Rockefeller speaks at trade reception
By Edward Marshall
SHEPHARDSTOWN - U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller gave opening remarks Sunday night in Shephardstown, kicking off the 2007 West Virginia Homeland Security Trade Mission.
The trade mission, hosted by the Discover the REAL West Virginia Foundation, will bring together security and biometrics industry executives who will have the opportunity to explore business partnerships, research enterprises and investment opportunities in West Virginia. The mission will include two and half days of business meeting sand tours of security firms in the Eastern Panhandle, Morgantown, Clarksburg, and Fairmont.
"What we're entering into tonight is the constant effort to bring more jobs to West Virginia and to the Eastern Panhandle," Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said in an interview with The Journal. "...This is an effort to get them interested in becoming a part of our community. Some of them already are. What you need is intensity, focus and a real desire to get some things done and get people over here."
The purpose of the trade mission is to showcase the state as a market for homeland security and biometrics-related firms. The Discover the REAL West Virginia Foundation will partner with the West Virginia Development Office, local economic developers and several homeland security-related firms in the state to attract national and international firms in the security industry, many of whom have representatives on hand for the trade mission.
"They are all first-class companies. They're all very big companies," Rockefeller said.
During the mission, delegation members will tour several homeland security-related firms in the Eastern Panhandle and the Northern Central region of the state, and meet with other officials from agencies and organizations engaged in this sector.
Rockefeller, who believes the next few days will be very productive ones, said West Virginia's proximity to Washington, D.C., its low cost of doing business, as well as other assets, including the National Biometrics Security Project, the Department of Defense Biometrics Fusion Center and biometrics programs at West Virginia University, make the state an optimal location for security-related industries.
"The whole matter of what is homeland security, how do you prepare for different kinds of events that happen, has to be taken extremely seriously. I'm fortunate enough to chair the (U.S. Senate) intelligence committee so I have a natural insight into it," Rockefeller said.
Over the next few days, Rockefeller hopes the delegation will have an opportunity to see that the state has taken great strides to create a business environment that fosters competitive success in the global economy. Rockefeller, who started the Discover the REAL West Virginia Foundation, said he was proud of the organization's work.
"We've had very good results. We've brought in a lot of international companies, a lot of American companies...So there are a lot of jobs here that would not be here it it were not for that foundation's work," Rockefeller said.
