Senate OKs bill to boost IT jobs in Southwest Virginia

More information technology jobs could come to rural Virginia under a bill unanimously passed by the state Senate on Monday.

SB 1495 is a Republican effort that would provide $600,000 beginning in 2020 to establish an apprenticeship program for small technology businesses in rural Southwest Virginia.

The program would provide IT workers on-the-job, mentored training at a company with guaranteed job placement at the end of the 18-month apprenticeship.

The bill’s co-sponsor, Republican Sen. Amanda Chase of Chesterfield County, said the program aims to provide IT job opportunities in rural Southwest Virginia.

The bill would target the counties of Alleghany, Bland, Buchanan, Carroll, Craig, Dickenson, Giles, Grayson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise and Wythe and the cities of Bristol, Danville, Galax, Martinsville and Norton.

“If you look at southwest Virginia, they have great institutions of higher education training our young people in information technology,” Chase said, “but it’s really hard for them to find meaningful employment after they graduate.”

According to Chase, the region’s young IT workers are currently drawn to areas of the commonwealth with more job opportunities, especially Northern Virginia.

The apprenticeship program, Chase said, would provide an incentive for them to “stay in the community they grew up in instead of leaving Southwest Virginia to move to another place where they can actually find work.”

The bill would create a fund in the state treasury to award grants to small, rural information technology businesses to employ IT workers in the region.

The General Assembly would provide $600,000 to the program starting in 2020.

Businesses that receive a grant from the program would be eligible for funding for up to five years or until the business employs 100 workers. The amount of money given to a business to employ an apprentice wouldn’t exceed the entry-level salary of an IT worker.

The bill’s chief sponsor, Sen. Ben Chafin of Russell County, said that the program would be housed at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center in Abingdon and coordinated with area community colleges.

David Matlock, executive director of the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center, was optimistic that the program would help meet the employment needs in the region.

“Southwest Virginia is always looking for ways to enhance our workforce,” Matlock said. “We want to keep our graduates here, and we want to help these new businesses and attract more businesses like them.”

The Senate bill now heads to the House for consideration.