Train local workers to take BRAC jobs

Northern Virginians are nice people who would make good neighbors in the Valley, but if they are not coming, their military jobs are moving as part of Base Realignment and Closure.

Some 4,700 jobs are transferring to Redstone Arsenal because of Base Realignment and Closure, but many of the people who now do that work in Virginia apparently are staying put.

That means those jobs will be open to others; hopefully, to people who live here.

Their decision to remain in Virginia is causing a major shift in recruiting. Instead of attempting to lure those workers here, Joe Ritch of Huntsville, who heads the Tennessee Valley Base Realignment and Closure Committee, is looking elsewhere. He said a national search will attempt to fill these jobs.

That’s fine, but what about training for our local highly skilled people who have lost their jobs?

Through the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce, the city and county spent $65,000 attempting to recruit the Virginians. The original recruiting plan was sound when we thought those families would transfer.

Now, let’s try matching job requirements with the skills of our local unemployed workers and develop a crash job-training program specifically to prepare them for these jobs.