DUBLIN, IRELAND — Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said Thursday he’s been on the go since his investment mission to the United Kingdom and Ireland began last weekend.
Tomblin took time enough out from that schedule for an appearance on MetroNews “Talkline.”
“We’re trying to get us more jobs in West Virginia and hoping to get additional investment from those in West Virginia,” said Tomblin, who is scheduled to return to the U.S. on Saturday.
Tomblin, state Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette and others were in Dublin, Ireland Thursday. The investment trip comes at a time when Tomblin has less than 90 days left in his final term in office and the state budget has an $81 million revenue shortfall after the first three months of the fiscal year. Despite that, Tomblin said the trip is cost-effective.
“You can’t just sit back and wait for people to come to West Virginia,” he said. “A lot of people don’t know what a good place we are to do business.”
Existing businesses from the area already in West Virginia include Williams Lea Tag, which Tomblin described as a back office business with more than 500 workers in Wheeling. Tomblin also met with officials from Randox Laboratories, which has a location in Jefferson County and is looking to expand. He had similar discussions with Christopher Peacock Cabinets which has an operation in Wardensville.
The governor indicated he’ll have some news from those meetings before he leaves office.
“It looks very positive and we probably should have some announcements in the next few weeks,” Tomblin said.
The time spent in London included meetings with officials associated with the plastics industry who are aware of West Virginia’s natural gas reserves, the governor said.
“They are very interested—both the plastics and chemical industries,” he said.
Tomblin has been on five international missions including previous trips to Japan, other areas of Europe and Brazil.