State’s economy to stay strong, Kaine predicts

Virginia’s economy has slowed down significantly, but it continues to grow, according to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.

“We are not in a recession,” Kaine said Friday in remarks to The Daily Progress. “We’re still growing, we’re not shrinking.”

Over the past 25 years, Virginia’s revenues increased at an average rate of 7.5 percent. In the past year, that growth slowed to 1.8 percent.

Kaine acknowledged that it is a “time of anxiety” for many Virginians. Gas prices are on the precipice of $4 a gallon. The state’s foreclosure rate has doubled. The price of food is escalating sharply. The housing market has slowed to a crawl.

“Challenging, challenging times,” he said. “I still am really optimistic though.”

Yet Kaine pointed out that Virginia median income — which is $66,886 — exceeds the national average. Plus, he said, the state’s unemployment rate of 3.3 percent in April is below the national average of 4.8 percent. The Charlottesville region’s rate was 2.7 percent in April.

“Even though people are going through some tough times right now, businesses too, I’m not that worried about the fundamental soundness of Virginia’s economy for the next 25 years,” Kaine said. “We’re going to be generally near the top of this nation in terms of our economy.”

Kaine said he believes Virginia is in a good position to weather a national economic downturn. The state’s economy is diverse, he said, ensuring that the collapse of one economic sector does not spell doom for the rest of the state. And Virginia has a long list of tools to promote economic development, he said. Virginia has a strong educational system, which Kaine called the state’s best economic development asset. Virginia has a low tax and regulatory burden, he said. And the state has “great global connections” that promote business via Dulles International Airport and the port of Hampton Roads.

“We continue to land big economic development deals,” he said. “We have a pretty good batting average on signature projects.”

Ten days earlier, Kaine said, he cut the ribbon at Ikea’s new furniture manufacturing plant in Danville. Two days before that, he announced that Canon would invest $600 million in Newport News.

Despite Kaine’s upbeat assessment of Virginia’s economy, he added that he does not know when the good times will return.

“Everybody is murky about when it’s going to get better,” he said.