The Appomattox Basin Work force training could bring a rising tide to the Crater Planning District.

Building a work force: B.I. Chemicals in Petersburg wants to turn Andrew Cade, 19, into a top-flight chemist. Photo by Mark Rhodes

By Lisa K. Garcia
Andrew Cade wasn’t ready to leave his hometown of Petersburg when he graduated from high school. He had an acceptance letter from a Maryland technical college, but he passed that up for the chance to stay home and help his family financially while attending college classes.

"I saw the job opportunity and also the school opportunity, and [I thought] it would be really dumb to pass up," Cade says.

Now, less than a year out of high school, the 19-year-old is in his second year of "Elements of Success," a B.I. Chemicals-sponsored apprenticeship program. The German company, which has operations in Petersburg, manufactures the active ingredients in pharmaceuticals, such as the expectorant for Robitussin.

In three years Cade will be a certified chemical technician and could earn an annual salary in the neighborhood of $30,000. For now, Cade is pleased with his part-time pay, which already has risen to $8.85 an hour from its summer start of $7.50. As an added perk, the chemical company covers his tuition and books for college.

Thirty Petersburg High School students entered the program, but only six remain. It’s a rigorous schedule that requires 12-hour shift work and classes at John Tyler Community College. The students were seniors when they committed to starting each school day at 7:30 a.m. at the high school and finishing at 6 p.m. at the college. Gene Langley, B.I. Chemicals’ human resource specialist, says his company saw a need to provide academic training as its work became more complex. The apprenticeship program is based on a German model and improves the company’s safety, quality and productivity, Langley says.

"I would definitely recommend it," Cade says, but adds this caution: "It’s not a lazy man’s job."

The apprenticeship program is one example of the Crater Planning District’s economic-development strategy. Work-force development is a top priority. While the region has its own metropolitan center, it’s often in the shadow of the nearby state capital. It trails state averages in such areas as income and education levels. But Cade is evidence that the region has opportunities — good opportunities — for the people who call it home.

More than half the region’s workers commute outside the area to work: Give them a good job in their back yard, local leaders say, and they’d be happy to stay. The region already has a rich cluster of chemical companies and distribution firms. And even though it’s a mostly rural area, it landed the state’s biggest economic announcement of 1997 in TXI Chaparral Steel. The company started its steel recycling operations in 1999.

*   *   *

The Crater Planning District consists of Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Greensville, Prince George, Surry and Sussex counties as well as the cities of Colonial Heights, Emporia, Hopewell and Petersburg. When leaders from the communities discuss concerns about the local economy, the talk turns to developing a skilled and available labor pool. Dennis Morris, executive director of the planning district, says the partnership’s focus has been to bring business and schools closer together.

There’s a lot to work with in this mixed region. Jay Langston, regional director for the Appomattox Basin Industrial Development Corp., notes the fast-growing metro area in Chesterfield County, which is adjacent to Richmond. There are also rural counties like agriculture-heavy Surry and Sussex. Langston estimates that less than 10 percent of the 200,000-square-mile district is considered developed.

The district’s rural nature, however, did not keep it from landing the state’s biggest economic package in 1997, Chaparral Steel’s $500 million steel recycling plant in Dinwiddie County. Local leaders hope that deal will help draw more attention. "There’s nothing like success to put you on the map and breed success," Langston says.

Many of the smaller communities are seeing some increased retail development — in particular, Wal-Mart SuperCenters that are strong retail anchors. Although the stores tend to threaten or push smaller competitors out of business, they also provide hundreds of jobs, increased tax revenue and donations to local civic groups. The latest opening was in Emporia on Jan. 27 where the Wal-Mart and its accompanying mall space represented an $8.3 million investment and 144,000 square feet of retail space.

Retail is booming in the metro region, too. Colonial Heights has South Park Mall, which has grown from its original 1 million square feet to nearly 2.3 million square feet in the last decade. It’s home to a Wal-Mart SuperCenter that has been among the chain’s top three grossing stores nationwide.

Langston contends the district is changing and growing despite local impressions to the contrary. "Many people still don’t recognize that things are happening, ... but once we get clients here we have a good chance" of making a deal, he says.

Even rural Surry County built its first shell building at the end of 1998, located in its first industrial park. The site remains empty so far. Within the next two years, County Administrator Mary Jones says Sussex County would like to have its own industrial park, too.

R. Martin Long, county administrator for Dinwiddie, says the steel recycling plant brought in more than 400 jobs, but it also brought two other businesses and another 25 jobs. The community isn’t looking at growth for growth’s sake, Long says. Locals want balance. "Our board [of supervisors] is looking to create some green space and maintain controlled growth," he notes, not just invest in infrastructure.

*   *   *

William Bailey used to work for the state’s economic development department and knew the different challenges faced by each area of the commonwealth. When Prince George County offered him a job as its director of economic development, Bailey sized up the area’s offerings and saw a good economic development package.

What he saw was a comprehensive plan that designates land for industry and growth, a more than 50 percent outmigration of the county’s labor pool, and available land near a major highway and major interstate.

That portfolio of plusses has shown results: In the less than three years that Bailey has been on the job, there have been five announcements totaling 400 new jobs and more than $50 million in capital investment. The nine years prior saw no such announcements.

The key has been a public-private partnership between the county and Hollingsworth Cos., a developer out of Tennessee. The developer bought land for an industrial park, put in the infrastructure and committed $5 million and two shell buildings. The county spent $1 million to run roads and water and sewer to South Point Business Park. The developer also agreed to build another shell building each time one was occupied.

Bailey says there have been challenges such as making infrastructure improvements, dealing with the abundant wetlands and getting the word out about the county. "My main goal was for people to say ‘check with Prince George County and see what they have,’" he says.

That sentiment is true throughout the district, not only regarding land but also regarding future generations of workers. "We have directed our efforts toward the emerging work force — high school and college students — because there are other programs to deal with adult training and re-training issues," says Morris, executive director of the planning district.

He can point to young people like Cade, who makes a muscle relaxant called methocarbamol for B.I. Chemicals. The work requires him to master tools such as a centrifuge, which spins the final product to separate its liquid and solid components; reactors for mixing chemicals undergoing compound changes; and crystallizers that cause the chemical to form into a solid. As a former high-school football player, Cade began the apprenticeship program weighing 283 pounds, but he now tips the scales at 255 because the job includes a certain amount of physically demanding work, such as moving some heavy materials. The job doesn’t allow him to be a mental lightweight, either, as the college keeps him busy with computer, chemistry and math courses.

The apprenticeship program has also helped Cade size up his future. "My career goal in five to 10 years is to be permanent with the company and maybe going to school to further my education," he says. "The company will pay [for schooling] up to a Ph.D."

Langley says his company is hoping other chemical companies will follow the lead and create similar programs. "We want our program to grow and have an even bigger labor pool to draw from."