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workforce development

Jan 1, 2025

Providers, nonprofits, colleges battle health care labor crisis

Many people may be aware by now that the United States is battling a shortage of nurses and physicians, but what’s received significantly less attention is that numerous other health care occupations — from home health aides to medical laboratory technicians to physical therapists — also are facing a short supply of workers. “People think […]

Nov 29, 2024

George Mason, school districts to launch data science lab school

George Mason University and several Shenandoah Valley school districts are partnering to launch a regional lab school in August 2025 that will focus on data literacy to provide students with training in this high-demand field. The Shenandoah Valley Rural Regional College Partnership Laboratory School for Data Science, Computing and Applications will be located at the […]

Oct 31, 2024

Mind the gap

Margaret Abrams was studying engineering at Liberty University when she came across an online job advertisement from Newport News-based Huntington Ingalls Industries. HII, Virginia’s largest industrial employer, was offering a $2,500 signing bonus to job candidates who successfully completed a 16-week computer numerical control training at the Navy’s Advanced Training in Defense Manufa[...]

Sep 29, 2024

EO opens workforce development hub in Abingdon

A former Kmart in Abingdon is now home to a workforce development and child care hub launched by EO, a nonprofit that spun off from the United Way of Southwest Virginia to oversee workforce development programs. EO received the certificate of occupancy for the 87,000-square-foot Regional Workforce and Child Development Hub and began moving employees […]

Sep 20, 2024

Pittsylvania tapped as home for $1.5M+ training center

TECHnista, an education consulting company that develops curriculum for K-12 programs in defense and advanced manufacturing industries, will invest about $1.56 million to establish a National Training and Technology Center in Pittsylvania County, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Friday.  The project, which is expected to create 15 jobs, will assist in the implementation of a five-year […]

Aug 29, 2024

In the pipeline

As Andre Marshall was speaking to a reporter about cybersecurity in late July, one of the biggest technology failures in recent memory was unfolding in real time. A worldwide Microsoft Windows outage on July 19 brought airports, banks, subways — and even the Marshall household — to a standstill. George Mason University‘s vice president for […]

May 30, 2024

New South Boston program trains clinical medical assistants 

Pretty much as soon as she heard about it, Ravin Townes enrolled in the new certified clinical medical assistant training program, which launched in March through a collaboration between Danville Community College and South Boston’s Southern Virginia Higher Education Center (SVHEC). Currently employed as a certified nursing assistant, Townes, 30, wants to move into a […]

Apr 11, 2024

ODU maritime training alliance designated federal Center of Excellence

The Hampton Roads Maritime Industries Education Alliance (HRMIEA) has been designated a 2024 Center of Excellence for Domestic Maritime Workforce Training and Education by the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), Old Dominion University announced Thursday. HRMIEA received the designation, good for five years, on Feb. 16, according to Elspeth McMahon, ODU’s assistant vice president for marit[...]

Rendering of the planned workforce and child care hub in Abingdon. Image courtesy United Way of Southwest Virginia
Feb 26, 2024

United Way of SWVA spins off workforce programs

The United Way of Southwest Virginia is spinning off its workforce development programs by establishing a new nonprofit, EO, to oversee them, UWSWVA announced Feb. 20. EO, which stands for Endless Opportunity, is also Latin for “go.” The new nonprofit will manage what has been the UWSWVA’s $10 million portfolio of grant-funded workforce development programs, […]

GO Virginia divides the state into nine regions. Image from a Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission presentation.
Dec 11, 2023

JLARC: GO Virginia’s economic impact positive but undefined

The state’s GO Virginia economic development initiative is likely improving regional collaboration and having positive economic impacts, but those can’t be reliably determined, according to a Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission report presented Monday. In 2022, JLARC directed staff to review GO Virginia, which the state government created in 2016. GO Virginia provides economi[...]

Nov 30, 2023

JPMorgan Chase gives $5.3M to DMV career pathways program

JPMorgan Chase has donated $5.3 million to TalentReady, a student career pathways program in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., the bank announced Thursday. The program, which is organized by the Greater Washington Partnership and Education Strategy Group, has a focus on ensuring students get work-based learning experiences, such as capstone projects and internships. TalentReady has [&hellip[...]

Nov 29, 2023

Mining for talent

At the end of October, United Way of Southwest Virginia broke ground on its $25 million project to convert a former Kmart store in Abingdon into a regional workforce development and child care hub. It’s an attempt to address the region’s workforce shortage, one of the most pressing issues among area employers. “There’s a lot […]

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