Samuel Pope (right), a staff member at the new Roanoke Valley Workforce Center, helps Stefan Hilton use a resume database to update his skill set. The employment center opened at Crossroads Mall in July.

SAM DEAN The Roanoke Times

Stefan Hilton did not tell his story Monday beneath the big white tent. If Hilton had, he might have sliced the morning's speechifying by half.

Hilton's visit to the new Roanoke Valley Workforce Center at Crossroads Mall in Roanoke happened Friday, and the visit by Gov. Tim Kaine and related ribbon-cutting oratory occurred three days later.

At the new center, a short trip down Hershberger Road from the former location near Valley View Mall, the Virginia Employment Commission is just one partner among many.

Thus, in addition to filing for unemployment insurance benefits and performing job searches, a visitor can tap a host of resources at what Kaine described as the state's first fully comprehensive "one-stop" work force center -- with resources ranging from information about housing assistance to details about job training, earning a GED or seeking postsecondary education.

These days, said Kaine, businesses considering a Virginia location ask more about an available, qualified work force than anything else.

"Talent is the most precious commodity in the world," he said.

Hilton's story seemed representative of the center's mission.

"I'm out here fighting the good fight," he said Friday, sitting at one of the center's resource room computers.

Like thousands of others in the Roanoke and New River valleys affected by the recession, Hilton has been laid off from a manufacturing job. He returned to school and graduated in late July with an associate degree in electrical engineering technology from Virginia Western Community College. He said he is certified also in microcomputer technology.

He visited the new work force center Friday for three reasons: to update his skills description for job searching, to search for jobs that fit his new qualifications and to apply for an extension for his unemployment benefits.

The new center opened July 22.

Not everyone has gotten the word about the new digs.

Like many others, Hilton had gone first to the work force center on Valley View Boulevard. But he eventually found the new location next to Kmart at Crossroads.

The new space is actually smaller than the previous center by about 10,000 square feet. The state holds the lease, but several "permanent partners" pitch in to help pay the rent.

Goodwill Industries of the Valleys has the contract to operate the center.

Linda Matthews is a vice president of regional work force development for Goodwill. She said the new leased space might be smaller than ideal but that the "partners really came together and made the best" of the available square footage.

Clay Stein, a senior director of work force services for Goodwill, agreed.

"Whatever the shortcomings of the building, we have made up for it with the integration of services," he said.

The federal Workforce Investment Act mandates that all federally funded work force programs cluster in a "one-stop" setting, said Doloris Vest, president of the Western Virginia Workplace Development Board.

The new center includes several partner organizations, ranging from the VEC to Total Action Against Poverty. And it is adjacent to two state agencies, the Virginia Department of Social Services and the Department for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Both of those agencies were formerly housed at the city-owned Commonwealth of Virginia Building at 210 Church Ave., where the sole remaining tenant is the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia.

Eric Becker, 42, said he moved to Roanoke "a couple of months ago" from Georgia to look for work. He said he's had no luck finding employment in construction or restaurant work. But he was back at it Friday -- searching for jobs at a computer in the resource room.

He said he likes the new facility. "The computers are faster than they were at the other place," he said.

Shiler Sthilaire, 29, patiently waited Friday for his number to be called. He said he was "trying to extend his unemployment benefits and look for a grant for school." He said he lost his kitchen job at a jail and now hopes to become a paramedic. He said he's been looking everywhere for work.

"There's nothing out there," he said.

Sthilaire said he likes the new setup for customers hoping to consult with staff about issues like his.

"I would say the process is a little faster because they are doing it by number. You used to have to stand in line," he said.