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Three elected officials who represent the area at the state level gave advice to the next generation and commented on local economics and federal education funding among other topics at the Eggs & Issues Legislative Breakfast in Franklin on Thursday, April 3.

The breakfast was hosted by the Franklin-Southampton Area Chamber of Commerce and held in the Franklin Baptist Church Fellowship Hall. The event’s presenting sponsor was Dominion Energy.

The featured invited guests included Sen. Emily Jordan, representing Virginia State Senate District 17, Del. Nadarius Clark, representing Virginia House of Delegates District 84, and Del. Otto Wachsmann, representing House of Delegates District 83.

Attendees of the breakfast included local elected officials, community members and students from Franklin High School, Southampton Academy and Southampton High School. 

Clark, Jordan and Wachsmann were each introduced by a student from one of the area high schools.

Then the featured guests provided reviews of the recent General Assembly session and what they have been working on legislatively.

Following this, they participated in a question-and-answer session, fielding written questions from attendees.

ADVICE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION

The first question was as follows: “If you had one word of advice for the next generation, what would you say?”

Jordan said, “I’m 40, and I was at the onset of social media picking up in a very meaningful way. We were the test generation for everything in the social media world.”

She said, “The one thing that I would say is try your best to take these (cellphones) and put them in a drawer and put them away and spend more time with your family. That’s, I think, advice just for your health and well-being.”

She indicated that something that bothers someone on X, Instagram, TikTok or some other social media platform “might be life-altering on a Friday afternoon, but it’s not going to matter in a week, it’s not going to matter in a year. 

“The time that you spend with the people that you love is the most important thing you can do,” she said. “People often put forward the best version of themselves on social media, and we can’t covet what others have, and I think the best advice I have for you is to live your life openly and honestly and try your best to put these (cellphones) away as best you can.”

Wachsmann answered the question by saying, “Get involved in your community. That’s one of the things that I’ve always done.”

He recalled being at his father’s store when he was growing up.

“At that store, the whole community would come in, and I think that’s what gave me my love for community,” he said. “I was always on the fire department (staff), the Boy Scouts, Ruritan Clubs, all of those things, probably why I go to so many events as a legislator, to stay grounded and stay in the community.

“But my advice is, get in the community, talk, interact with people,” he continued. “That’s a great way to get involved in just about everything, and learn how to communicate with folks.”

He encouraged the next generation to learn what is on other peoples’ minds and what is important to them.

“I think that is the best way to get involved in local government and just community in general,” he said. “That’s my advice.”

Clark offered two responses to the question.

“One, take your mental health seriously,” he said. “Mental health is real. Just make sure that you are addressing any concerns there, any trauma, any triggers. Health is wealth, whether you’re talking about your physical health or your mental health. Make sure you’re taking care of yourself.”

Secondly, he said, “Find what you’re passionate about and go all-out. Go for it. Whether it’s politics, being a business owner, whatever it is that your heart desires, don’t wait for permission to do it — go for it. Research it, prepare yourself, but go for your dreams and shoot for your dreams.

“But it takes hard work, it takes dedication, it takes a lot of sleepless nights to be where you want to be,” he added, “but you are the captain of your own ship, and you have what it takes to achieve your goals, so make sure that you’re believing in yourself and that you know what you bring to the table is enough and that you are enough.”

PLANS TO HELP THE RURAL-AREA ECONOMY
All three state-level elected officials were asked, “What are your plans for small businesses and job creation in our rural area?”

Jordan referenced Senate Bill 1275, which she carried and which she said the governor signed into law just a couple of weeks ago. It will take effect July 1.

The bill featured the following summary as it passed the Virginia Senate: “Virginia Business Ready Sites Program Fund; eligible site for site development grant. Provides that the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority may determine a site of at least 25 contiguous acres to be an eligible site to receive a site development grant from the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program Fund if such site is located in a locality with an area of 35 square miles of land area or less.”

Jordan had previously stated at a local government meeting that this bill was crafted “with the thought that rural places should not be less competitive, they should have more opportunity, and so this allows the opportunity when we have less of a land mass to be able to compete for those grant funds.”

At the breakfast, Jordan noted that she serves as the state chair for the Rural Caucus and also as the vice chair for the Rural Center at Virginia Tech, “which does a ton of work in the area of making sure that we’re developing leadership in rural areas.”

She noted that yearly there is a program called the Virginia Rural Leadership Institute.

“For people that live in communities like Franklin, Southampton and Suffolk, Isle of Wight, especially, it’s really important to get engaged to make sure you can maximize your opportunities by collaborating with other people from across the state to see what’s working in their backyard too,” she said. “And so if anyone is interested, applications have closed for this year, but that will come around in March of next year.”

In reference to rural-area job creation, Jordan noted that she was part of a group recently that was tasked with trying to find a creative way to tell the story of more rural areas.

“We decided that on paper oftentimes maybe a place like Franklin doesn’t match up with the pure demographic size and strength of a city like Norfolk, but we have things maybe that they don’t,” she said. “We have the ability to operate quickly, more nimbly, because of the size of the city.”

She said that she and her fellow group members focused on how to better tell the story of rural areas.

She said they worked to secure money to fund the Opportunity Dashboard, and they proceeded to ask some key questions in connection with rural areas.

“Do we have sites that are underutilized or currently not used, and do we have an inventory?” she said. “How do we bring that together?”

How much agricultural land does the rural area have in a certain space, she asked, and what current crops or services are being offered in a certain area that might be synergistic with a business that would like to locate there?

“What are other things or ancillary organizations that might benefit from being in close proximity?” she asked.

In conclusion, she said, “Putting all those things in a search engine for localities and businesses looking to locate online is a huge opportunity when we can tell our unique story, so that way it’ll allow us to tell our story better.” 

Wachsmann highlighted small businesses as a key to the economy of a rural area. While he acknowledged that such areas could enjoy a big hit with a huge employer, he indicated that it is quite difficult for those areas to find themselves in such a situation.

“The more small businesses we have, the more employment operations in different types of areas and more diversity,” he said. “As someone who used to own a small business, of course, I’m biased that way, but to me the key is collaboration. I see my role as more of a collaborator, of going out to those areas and seeing what they have, seeing what they want, seeing what the population wants.”

He said there is a real opportunity for solar developments, but a lot of people in communities may not want them, and the locality’s comprehensive plan may not allow for them.

“You’ve got to put those things together and make sure it’s the right fit to try to attract businesses,” he said.

He noted that he, Clark and Jordan go all over the state and have contact with a lot of people that want to do a lot of different things.

“If we see somebody that is looking for an opportunity for a new business and we know that our area back home may have the resources that they need and the philosophy that it would be a good fit, it’s our responsibility to get those people together and connect them so it happens,” Wachsmann said. “It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does happen, it’s a true win-win.”

Clark echoed the importance of collaboration and communication.

“We have to collaborate with our small businesses, with our local officials and our federal partners,” he said. “But the Virginia Investment Performance Grant is a start that helps small businesses and attracts more businesses to come to rural and small areas, but it takes that communication — we need to know, what can we do to help bring more businesses here?”

He illustrated the fruit of some of that communication that has taken place locally as he mentioned meeting with farmers who noted there is a shortage of large animal veterinarians.

He highlighted the creation of the J.P. King Jr. Career and Technical Academy in Franklin in 2024, indicating that part of the work of aiding a rural-area economy is making sure there are pathways to different jobs and markets.

“But we have to start by having those conversations, by being more collaborative and then seeing what solutions we can take to Richmond and bring back here,” he said.

RESPONSE TO TRUMP’S DOE EXECUTIVE ORDER

Clark, Jordan and Wachsmann were all asked, “After Trump’s (Department of Education) executive order, how do you plan to continue special education services in school districts?”

The Associated Press reported on March 20 that U.S. President Donald Trump had signed an executive order calling for the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education.

Jordan noted that she does not work at the federal level, but she cited personal experience relevant to the matter in reference to early childhood intervention, and she mentioned not foreseeing any cuts to special education services as a result of Trump’s executive order.

“Prior to 1967, the Department of Education, going back to the early 1800s actually, used to mostly reside under where it’s been reassigned to — Health and Human Services,” she said. “As of now, there have been no cuts to special education services that we have been made aware of at all, and I don’t foresee that happening. Making sure that children in schools get those services is of utmost importance.”

Wachsmann said a lot of people think the states are a better place to handle some of the things that the federal DOE was doing.

“It’s my understanding that DOE only pays for about 10% of schools, the rest of it’s local and state funding,” he said. “I know it’s a big change right now with what’s being done in D.C., and I focus on Richmond, that’s big enough, but I sense that it’s not that they’re eliminating a lot of these things in D.C. as much as it is they’re redistributing them. They’re trying to get more efficient and have fewer agencies perform some of those same services.”

Clark said his take on this question was going to be different from Jordan and Wachsmann.

“Any cut to education is going to hurt us,” he said. “We are already operating in the position where we need more funding. Ten percent, 1% of a cut is too much. We can’t afford any cut from the federal government to hurt our schools when we’re still trying to find funding revenues to make them fully funded so we can build better schools. 

“We have dilapidated schools, we have old books that we’re using, we have teachers that need to be paid what they deserve, we have support staff that we need to increase, we have mental health workers and so much more in our schools that it takes to make sure we have this premier education here in Virginia,” he continued. “And a lot of times what happens in smaller localities is they don’t have those matching funds. So when we do put in teachers bonuses and other things, certain cities can do that, and certain cities can’t.”

He indicated that when places like Franklin and Southampton are not able to match, they lose teachers.

“So the federal government hurting the Department of Education, talking about dismantling it will devastate Virginia,” he said. “That’s 10% too much that now we have to redirect funds, whether that’s going to come from infrastructure investment, whether that’s going to come from agriculture — it’s going to come from somewhere, we have to have a balanced budget.

“And when 10% is cut from the federal government, that’s 10% that we have to take from somewhere else that’s going to hurt us in the long run,” he added. “So I don’t think this is a great order, definitely not for Virginia and for other states that are already in the red that are suffering in their education departments.”