The general election is behind us now.
And both political parties in Washington are pledging to get to work on the two main issues confronting the country: avoiding a fiscal crisis in January and creating jobs.
What can Tennessee Valley residents expect?
The recession is not over for many job-seekers in this part of the country.
HAROLD SMITH, LOOKING FOR WORK "We've come up out of kind of a recession ..We're still in the middle of it..I know a lot of people that's out of work."
Many have struggled to get back where they were before 2008. And frustration is evident in the voice of people like Harold Smith.
HAROLD SMITH "You got to be kinda up there, college educated and all that..just to be a janitor."
The Obama administration is planning to call all sides together, hoping to make jobs a high priority next year.
PRESIDENT OBAMA "At a time when our economy is still recovering from the great recession, our top priority has to be jobs and growth."
REP. JOHN BOEHNER, HOUSE SPEAKER "Mr. President we are ready to work with you."
Chattanooga job-seekers may be more fortunate than others.
PATRICIA BRATTON, BRANCH MANAGER, SELECT STAFFING "Chattanooga has got more jobs than it has people...right now. We have job openings..its taking us three or four times as much time to fill individual openings as it has in the past..the past few years."
Patricia Bratton says the local economy is still getting a boost from Volkswagen and its suppliers.
Ms. Bratton says many of them start at around 10-dollars an hour..but usually pay off for those who will apply themselves.
PATRICIA BRATTON "One of the things we try and coach people to understand, is that any position that you go into any day..has the potential to be a permanent job. Its really based on your attitude...your attendance, your performance...what you want to make of it."
How many workers actually get what they need in 2013, still depends on what lawmakers in Washington can work out.
But, however it goes, this area seems to have better potential than many other communities.
Select Staffing is a national company.
Patricia Bratton says it plans to hold seminars in Chattanooga next year to help jobseekers find what they need.
