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RICHMOND – Governor Timothy M. Kaine today congratulated Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated, officials as they celebrated the grand opening of the company’s Southern Gap industrial park facility that has brought more than 250 jobs to the Buchanan County area over the past year. SYKES, which also operates a facility in Wise County, is a global leader in providing outsourced customer contact management solutions and services in the business process outsourcing (BPO) arena.

“I’m excited to congratulate SYKES on its newest Virginia facility,” Governor Kaine said. “This company has maintained a presence in Wise County for more than 10 years and has proven to be a valuable corporate partner. This latest endeavor is a great way to kick off Southern Gap industrial park and a great sign of progress and good things to come.”

SYKES provides an array of sophisticated customer contact management solutions to Fortune 1000 companies around the world, primarily in the communications, financial services, healthcare, technology and transportation and leisure industries. SYKES specializes in providing flexible, high quality customer support outsourcing solutions with an emphasis on inbound technical support and customer service. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, with customer contact management centers throughout the world, SYKES provides services through multiple communication channels including phone, email, Web and chat.

“We continue to see a demand for outsourcing, and the expansion of our Buchanan County operations is a result of SYKES adapting to meet this demand,” said Chuck Sykes, SYKES President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are grateful for our partnership with the community of Buchanan County and have found here a labor market full of intelligent and hard working people.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Buchanan County and The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority to secure the project.

“We are delighted to have SYKES in Buchanan County as the first business to locate in our new Southern Gap business park and thank them for the jobs they are creating for our citizens,” said Carroll Branham, Chairman of the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors.

2-11-2009: RICHMOND– Governor Timothy M. Kaine today announced the approval of $3.6 million in funding for public water projects that will service 207 homes in Dickenson, Buchanan and Tazewell Counties. The $3,621,944 in funding for two public water projects is the largest amount granted to date through Virginia’s Abandoned Mine Land (AML) program. Water supplies in both project areas were affected by pre-1981 coal surface mining activities.

“Thanks to Virginia’s Abandoned Mine Land program, thousands of families throughout Southwest Virginia coalfields have reliable supplies of clean drinking water,” said Governor Kaine. “Now, hundreds more households will join other families who’ve benefited from the program’s projects.”

Since 1984, the AML program has funded projects and collaborated with local, state, and federal agencies to ensure public water services for 7,805 households in the Southwest Virginia coalfields. Overall, more than $21.5 million in water replacement projects have been funded by the program in the coalfield counties. Virginia AML funds originate from reclamation fees paid by the state's coal industry while supplemental funding is raised by the coalfield public service authorities.

Today’s announcement means 153 residents in Dickenson and Buchanan Counties and 54 residents in Tazewell County will benefit from the extension of public water systems to their communities. One project covering portions of Dickenson and Buchanan counties and one project in Tazewell county have been selected for construction funding under Virginia’s AML FY08 and FY09 grants administered by the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy.

The Haysi to Big A Phase III Water Project will extend a public water system to 153 residents in Dickenson and Buchanan Counties and represents a continuation of a program providing clean drinking water to the residents of the counties. The project is the third phase of construction for the extension of public water service into the Haysi to Big A areas of Dickenson and Buchanan Counties. Additional funding for the project will come from the Department of Housing and Community Development, Coalfield Water Development Fund, Appalachian Regional Commission, Southwest Virginia Regional Water and Wastewater Construction Fund, Dickenson County and Buchanan County. AML funding for phase three is $2,359,770.

The Horsepen Water Extension Project will assist with the county's efforts to extend a public water system to 54 residents along the Virginia and West Virginia state line in the Horsepen section of Tazewell County. The project continues a program to address the need for clean drinking water in the Horsepen area of the County. Additional funding for the project will come from the West Virginia Abandoned Mine Land Program, Tazewell County and private funding from Mid-Vol Coal Sales, Inc. AML funding for the Horsepen Water Extension is $1,262,174.

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Whitewood High School, which later became a combined high school and elementary school serving grades 1-12, is a two story brick building erected in 1940, with several brick additions of compatible design, dating to 1957. It includes a secondary, contributing building containing three additional classrooms. The architectural character of the larger facility is defined by the original 1940 section, in which Classical and Gothic-inspired elements are deftly combined with modern design elements and the use of modern materials such as pre-cast concrete. The school is the most prominent and significant architectural landmark in the Whitewood area of Buchanan County.

Whitewood resident Belinda Honaker has been the driving force in seeking this designation, and she continues to be the leading advocate for preservation and re-use of the long-neglected school building. She also provided sources of the historical information contained herein, and helped with the nomination process.