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WHEELING -- West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, also Republican nominee for governor, wants the state's youth to better know what job opportunities are available to them in the Mountain State so they are more apt to remain West Virginians.
If he is elected governor, Morrisey wants to establish a portal containing information about educational grants and job opportunities for young adults. He suspects they otherwise might not know these opportunities exist.
Morrisey believes the state's next governor is going to have to do a better job communicating with the different parts of the state -- especially young people.
"I think about it in terms of education, and ensuring that a lot of our kids know of the economic opportunities available to them when they are done (with high school)," he said during a stop in Wheeling on Tuesday.
"I've talked about doing a portal that will allow kids across West Virginia to know about the economic opportunities available to them, because that is important."
He noted a lot of young people "don't realize how many good jobs are available for them in West Virginia right now."
"We have to convey that to them. There are a lot of open jobs," Morrisey said. "There is a need to build more jobs, and drive workforce participation through the roof. Workforce participation is the number one issue, the number two issue and the number three issue (in the state). We have to do a better job connecting people to jobs right now."
He said there will be many opportunities in construction and manufacturing coming to West Virginia in the future, and that is why he is a proponent of vocational and technical education.
"There is a need to let people know there are important jobs available -- electricians, plumbers, sheet metal workers and contractors. There are parts of the state dying for people with those kinds of skills, and they pay really, really well," he said.
Morrisey added that one thing he has learned as attorney general is there is a need to connect with young people and inspire the future. He has found many of them don't believe there will be a good job waiting for them when they graduate high school or college.
"They don't have hope for the future, and we have to start proving it to them through the metrics -- not just through rhetoric," he said. "You have to show them these are the standards we have to reach on workforce participation, standard of living, average pay and educational attainment. The more we can communicate this to people, and the more we can reach out to these kids and their families, and that makes a difference. It lets them know there are almost unlimited opportunities in the vo-tech area."
Morrisey added he wants to better communicate to them what jobs already exist in West Virginia.
"And we obviously need to take more steps to become more competitive with the other states we touch," he added.
Morrisey faces Democrat Steve Willilams, the mayor of Huntington, in the Nov. 5 general election.
Morrisey indicated he is not taking anything for granted in the race, and that he is thankful for the support of his party and the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.
Morrisey said if he is elected governor he and his wife Denise do plan to live in the governor's mansion. Current Gov. Jim Justice has faced criticism for choosing to reside at home and not in the governor's mansion.
"What we want to do is open up the governor's mansion. It's the 'people's house,'" he said. "I think that matters a lot. I want people to come and know it's their house, and they're welcome."