RAHALL REPORT: We Are Participating in Our Own Revolution: A Digital One
From the desk of U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV)Representing West Virginia's 3rd District
Washington, D.C. (HNN) -- Last week, families across West Virginia and the Nation gathered together to celebrate the courageous action that our Founders took on July 4, 1776 - the signing of the Declaration of Independence. With a simple stroke of the pen, the Founders demonstrated their love for liberty and declared to the world that they were willing to fight and die for freedom.
Throughout our Nation's history, Americans have remained dedicated to their efforts to build a country of opportunity. As we celebrate our Founding Father's revolution, we must also focus on a revolution of a different sort-the technology revolution of the 21st Century. In doing so, we honor the legacy of our founders who were so unwavering in their desire to preserve the American dream for future generations.
Over the past 10 years the Internet has become a crucial part of the small business economic engine of southern West Virginia. Our businessmen and women, our students, our educators, our public servants, our health care providers ... they all require the latest technology to do business. This technology is no longer a luxury ... it is a necessity if we are to remain competitive and grow. The technology revolution is quite truly capable of moving mountains. It enables people in southern West Virginia to do business anywhere in the world, without leaving the beautiful hills of West Virginia.
But to take advantage of the digital age, we must be prepared for it. This means making sure our small businesses have not only access, which I am working with both my Democratic and Republican colleagues in Washington to help ensure, but the training available and the incentive to utilize it.
This is why I support the establishment of a human-capital investment tax credit that would allow companies to write off worker-training expenses. Such a credit is would be an important investment-in our workforce and in our economy. Businesses would have an incentive to provide their workers the most up-to-date training on our most up-to-date technologies. And a better trained, more diversified workforce would increase efficiency, bring higher yields and be better able to take advantage of future technological advances.
And I continue to work with business leaders to develop tech training programs that will help put technology to work to put West Virginia to work. The Connected Technologies Corridors Foundation is providing a platform for existing and new technological businesses in the 11 counties of southeastern West Virginia to gain access to high speed (broadband) Internet service, entrepreneurial training/support, and marketing services. And the Appalachian Regional Commission's e-commerce initiative is now in its second year of teaching small businesses across southern West Virginia how to begin taking advantage of the economic opportunities available through the World Wide Web.
The future, too, is full of promise. Two new programs, the Small Business Incubator and Entrepreneurial Studies Program at the Rahall Center at Concord University and a transportation-related business incubator at the Rahall Transportation Institute will arm entrepreneurs with the tools they need to not only compete, but thrive in today's global economy.
It is my hope that through better-funded worker training and the strong tech initiatives we have in place, southern West Virginia will be the example to follow when it comes to transitioning to a global digital economy. Through working together as a unified force and voice, we can ensure that there exists a vibrant telecommunications system in this region that is second to none so that our companies can compete, our students can learn, and all of our citizens can participate in an ever-changing digital world. Our Founding Fathers had their revolution. Now comes the time for us to participate in our own.