Collegiate Times

Deeds center

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds made a stop at Virginia Tech's Research and Demonstration facility Tuesday to tour the Lumenhaus that will compete in the U.S. Department of Energy's solar decathlon.

President Charles Steger, College of Architecture and Urban Studies Dean Jack Davis and local House of Delegates representative Jim Shuler joined Deeds in learning about the project.

Lumenhaus is a solar home being built by a team of Tech students, led by faculty members such as project coordinator Joseph Wheeler and Robert Dunay, director of the Center for Design Research.

Deeds viewed a video presentation on the project before Wheeler took him on a tour of the partially constructed house.

Deeds called the project a step toward a new economic era.

"You've got to be prepared for the next big thing," Deeds said. "I think the next place for money to be made in this country is energy technology."

 Lumenhaus is Tech's third house to be entered in the decathlon.

It will be moved to the Gables Center parking lot Thursday and operate for two weeks. The group is testing how much surplus power the house can add to the Blacksburg grid.

Deeds also spoke to the Collegiate Times about other issues facing the Blacksburg area.

He said a new economic plan would be needed to improve conditions in the struggling area, but regretted that the general assembly did not accept federal stimulus money to aid the unemployed.

"Well, first off, the general assembly made a mistake by rejecting the stimulus dollars that would've helped, particularly laid-off people who wanted to retrain to be well fitted for the new economy," Deeds said.

Deeds plans to give a tax credit to business owners for each job created.

"I've laid out very specific plans about economic development," Deeds said. "We need to first stimulate small business growth. I've got a plan to create a culture of entrepreneurship that leads with a tax credit. You create a job, you get a tax credit."

Deeds said making Virginia more attractive to business is the best way to boost the economy.

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