RICHMOND, Va. - Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe is looking to boost interest in computer jobs across the Commonwealth.
Monday formally kicked off the first ever "Virginia is for Computer Science Lovers" week, CBS 6 reported.
Education program, "Code Virginia" is teaming up with the Virginia Tourism Corporation to highlight the educational and economic opportunities of Computer Science.
Governor McAuliffe said the demand for tech jobs is so high in Virginia that the state can barely keep up.
"Our problem in Virginia, unlike other states, is we have too many open jobs, high-paying jobs we cannot fill in Virginia today. Standing here today I have 36,000 cyber jobs open. I tell (students) the starting pay is $88,000," McAuliffe said. "We either fill these jobs or they go to other states".
McAuliffe recently signed a bill making Computer Science a part of the core curriculum for K-12 in every school in Virginia. Virginia is the first state in the nation to do so.
"I want to be in the center of everything, not do I only want to be in the Capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, I want to be in the center of all things arts, history, culture, and this week and for every week -- 52 weeks-- technology," Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said.
The mayor then introduced a signed proclamation declaring "Tech Week in RVA."
The Governor's office touted Virginia as the number one state in the nation for cyber security, the number one state in the nation for data centers, and the number one state in the nation for unmanned aerial vehicles.
"We worked hard to get to that place, we're going to have to work hard to keep that place," he said.
