Gov. Bob McDonnell attends meeting with Prince William County officials.

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. - Prince William Del. Luke Torian, D-52nd, recently put together a meeting on economic development and invited Gov. Bob McDonnell, area business leaders and county officials.

Torian said the meeting was to  “encourage” state support of some of the projects  that are in the works and on the books for Prince William County.

“The purpose of the meeting was to allow some of our elected officials and development staff members to meet with the governor to show him some of the exciting things that are happening in Prince William County,” Torian said.

Martin J. Briley, the executive director of Prince William County’s Department of Economic Development, gave a presentation that showed that 1.2 million workers live within a 30 minute commute to the center of Prince William.

The kinds of businesses county officials want to attract include information technology, federal agencies and contractors, biotechnology, corporate facilities, micro-electronics and other high-tech industries, Briley’s presentation showed.

Brent Heavner, economic development spokesman, said the county wants to attract those types of  businesses because of the ready workforce living in the county.

“The impetus in reaching out to those target markets is they create high wage jobs and capital investment, which ultimately contributes the quality of life for the citizens here in the county, is because it allows us to repatriate those workers that may be commuting out of the county every morning and let them work here closer to home,” Heavner said.

The presentation also showed that the county is in the middle of providing infrastructure to support new businesses with road improvements scheduled at Va. 123 and U.S. 1, and  improvements to U.S. 1 between  Neabsco Mills and Featherstone roads, as well as projects at Va. 28 in the Linton Hall area, Prince William Parkway, Minnieville Road and Rollins Ford Road in the VintHill Area.

Prince William Supervisor Michael C. May, R-Occoquan, said he thought the governor was receptive to the ideas presented by county staff, elected officials and business leaders.

“I think he really took it as an opportunity to hear from us,” May said.

Sam Hill Campus, provost for the Woodbridge campus of the Northern Virginia Community College, wanted the governor to know about a project proposed for the community college.

He said he thought McDonnell got the idea.

“I was most appreciative that the delegate included the campus in that meeting because we have a request before the General Assembly for funding for a workforce development center,” Hill said. “With the governor’s focus on economic development, it was an excellent opportunity to talk to him about what we would like to do here at NOVA Woodbridge.”

May said having McDonnell’s ear even for a morning might pay off.

While the governor has to look to the General Assembly for money, he has the political heft to get things moving if he gets behind a project or a cause, May said.

“The governor certainly has a big  bullhorn. They call it the ‘Bully Pulpit’ so if he gets behind a priority, it certainly gets a great deal of momentum,” May said.

Heavner  said McDonnell is focused on economic development and that too could bode well for Prince William.

“The Governor has made economic development a priority of his administration, and I think everyone was pleased that he took the time to discuss the challenges and successes of Prince William County’s economic development efforts,” Heavner said.

Torian said he thought McDonnell was receptive to the ideas he heard

“I think the governor heard exactly what we were saying,”Torian said.