Republican Bob McDonnell visited a Lynchburg furniture maker Wednesday to learn what kind of help small-business owners need from whomever is elected Virginia’s next governor, and entrepreneur Thomas Johnson had a couple of suggestions.
First, cut down on the amount employers have to pay for unemployment insurance, Johnson suggested.
McDonnell, who’s running against Democrat Creigh Deeds, didn’t say whether he would act on that suggestion if he wins the Nov. 3 election.
But McDonnell called Johnson an “example of the American dream” because he came to the United States from Ghana in 1993 and started a successful business in Lynchburg.
Johnson got a more direct response when he told McDonnell that Virginia’s workforce training programs in community colleges ought to provide workers “with better skill sets.”
“I would re-do workforce training” if elected, McDonnell told Johnson.
McDonnell said he had ideas for improving Virginia’s workforce training, because the state has 23 programs and they don’t always work well together.
McDonnell also acknowledged that the presidents of Virginia’s community colleges, which provide the state’s workforce training programs, “have their fingers on the pulse of their communities” and know what kind of training programs their local employers need.
Johnson, who operates two companies in old warehouses on Concord Turnpike near the James River, said he’s planning to set up his own school because no one else trains people in the specific woodworking skills that furniture builders need. He told McDonnell the government could make it easier for him to get that school started.
McDonnell didn’t make any promises about the school, except to say it was a good idea.
Recycled wood from old buildings is used in much of Johnson’s furniture.
Johnson’s two companies are Thomas A. Johnson Furniture Co., a manufacturer, and James River Furnishings, a retail store. He employs nine people in the manufacturing business and has one employee in the retail store.
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