It's too early to tell how big an impact Gov. Tim Kaine's decision to close the Pulaski Correctional Center will have on an already lethargic local job market, county officials say.

"Anytime you have an established facility -- no matter what it is -- and they're laying off and shutting down, it does have an impact as far as what materials, food or other type of needs they have," especially when the facility uses local vendors, Pulaski County Board of Supervisors Chairman Joe Sheffey said.

Sheffey should know. The county has dealt with a string of private-sector layoffs the past eight years at the Volvo Trucks North America plant in Dublin and at furniture and textile manufacturers in Pulaski. Additionally, it is dealing with a diminished tax base as the county's population declines.

Pulaski County's unemployment rate, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, jumped from 4.7 percent in January to 9.4 percent in August, according to preliminary reports.

But if there's a bright spot in the correctional center's closing, New River Valley Regional Jail Superintendent Gerald McPeak has found it in his staffing needs for the jail's expansion now under construction. The regional jail serves seven counties and the city of Radford.

Before Kaine announced the correctional center's closing Thursday as part of a round of sweeping budget cuts statewide, McPeak said he had worried whether the jail could attract the 130 officers needed to supervise about 1,100 more inmates. The regional jail currently employs more than 150 full time, according to its Web site.

"The job market in this area is not all that great, but the layoffs have generated some applications for us" and some interest from officers at the state facility, McPeak said. "We're kind of breathing a sigh of relief that the job market has opened up for us."

The expansion is scheduled to open in late 2009.

McPeak said he has scheduled a meeting for today with Pulaski Correctional Center Warden Al Hollar to discuss how to reach out to the 62 employees affected by layoffs.

Hollar did not return a call seeking comment Friday and his office was closed for the Columbus Day holiday Monday.

The New River Valley Regional Jail had been in competition for applications with the new Western Virginia Regional Jail now under construction near Dixie Caverns.

That facility, which will house up to 800 inmates and serve Roanoke, Montgomery and Franklin counties, is far enough along in the process that the competition for jobs has died down, McPeak said.

And while McPeak said "we are kind of saddened at the closing" of the state's Pulaski facility, it's also "bittersweet" because it will provide more qualified applicants to the regional jail.

The New River Valley jail now employs only a method of "indirect supervision," which means guards are not physically inside locked-down areas with employees at all times.

But that will change with the jail's expansion, McPeak said, "so that will be a plus for us to have officers who are familiar with a direct supervision facility" such as the Pulaski Correctional Center.

Pulaski County Administrator Pete Huber said the county will try to assist the two facilities with any transitions and will also work to help any laid-off employees who are eligible for unemployment insurance.

Huber also said he wants to "work with the state in exploring any kind of options" the county has in minimizing the impact of the cuts, but he said it was too early to get into specifics of what actions the county will take.

"Our primary concern is with the folks being laid off at this point," Huber said. "Hopefully, there will be an opportunity there for folks affected by the governor's cut" at the New River Valley Regional Jail.