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SWCC to expand workforce development programs
Southwest Virginia Community College in Cedar Bluff is expanding its workforce development programs this year with the help of three grants totaling $307,142 from the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority. These grants will support the college’s existing automotive technology and workforce development scholarship programs and help launch a new electric vehicle and hybrid vehicle [...]
Pharma hub workforce training wins $3.9 million grant
The talent pipeline for the Richmond-Petersburg region’s growing advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing and biotech industries is getting a boost from a $3.9 million federal grant. Announced in mid-January, the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Good Jobs Challenge grant was awarded to the Community College Workforce Alliance in Disputanta, a shared division of Brightpoint and [...]
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 […]
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 […]
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[...]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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[...]
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, […]
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[...]
