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RESTON, Va. - Governor Bob McDonnell (web | bio) , R-Va., has taken up the cause of the unemployed Wednesday night, trumpeting his plan to create roughly 30,000 jobs.

With Virginia's unemployment rate still hovering around a 27-year high and 100,000 jobs lost in 2009, local businesses say it's good to see that McDonnell has his priorities straight.

Thousands of Sprint employees used to eat lunch at Reston Kabob. But after the 2009 layoffs, Manager Masoud Shoja never saw them again.

"There's a lot of offices -- Sprint offices around the area and a lot of them got laid off -- like 3,000 jobs," he said. "In the past year, business has slowed down."

But there's hope at the end of the tunnel. McDonnell has unveiled an economic revitalization plan that will provide tax incentives and scale back regulations on small businesses.

Shoja says the intimate services that smaller firms provide are vital to their neighborhoods. "It's not only going to help us, but [also] the community in general. Everyone will benefit from it," he said.

The proposal would also establish a $500 income tax credit for green job creation. Arlington's Dominion Floors is among the companies that could benefit.

"We've been selling cork and bamboo and linoleum and sustainable wood for years now," said Ken Sick, owner of Dominion Floors.
Sick says given the right conditions, he could definitely be motivated to create new jobs. "If we get incentives for selling it and our customers get incentives, that's just great," he said.

But he notes that his eco-friendly products come down to more than dollars and cents. "We've started slow over the years but every little bit helps and before you know it, people are really making an impact," he said.

All in all, the program would provide $50 million in incentives for job creation, and is expected to generate more than $300 million in revenue over the next five years.

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