The City of Franklin and Southampton County’s location in the Commonwealth of Virginia and proximity in the Hampton Roads Region offers a wide variety of labor benefits. The state of Virginia is the most northern right-to-work state with workers’ compensation costs and unemployment insurance rates the 5th lowest in the nation. A strong transportation network throughout Hampton Roads accesses a large variety of skill sets to support every industry from retail, warehousing and logistics to advanced-manufacturing and information technology.

The City of Franklin and Southampton County have a long history of supplying a strong and skilled workforce to local employers. Local and regional workforce resources abound:

• The total workforce of the Hampton Roads region is over 830,000 people
• Franklin and Southampton’s immediate labor pool encompasses over 110,000 people 
• Hampton Roads enrolls 96,000 students at eight universities and four community colleges, annually graduating 14,000 people
• Paul D. Camp Community College & Workforce Development Center are located near Downtown Franklin and offer an array of services to meet employer needs
• Hampton Roads' strong military presence brings 13,000 military personnel to the civilian workforce annually  
• Opportunity Inc., the regional Workforce Investment Board, works to strengthen the regional workforce to support a growing and changing economy