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Rachel Miller spent half of her undergraduate studies and then a portion of graduate school learning remotely behind a computer screen. Even the first job she took that aligned with her career goals — completing contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic while she worked toward her master’s degree in public health — was a remote […]
The Mailroom October 2023
Don’t say ‘Don’t Say Gay?’ I am disappointed in your June 2023 workforce article, “Pride in their work.” In it, you perpetuate misinformation that the left-leaning press has been pushing on Americans. Two specific examples: Reference to the Florida “Don’t Say Gay” law — This bill does not use the word “gay” in it, and […]
Betting on success
Thousands of new jobs are flowing into Southern Virginia as Caesars Virginia prepares to open its permanent casino resort next year, and industries move into the region or expand. Meanwhile, local economic developers have been pitching the vacant 3,500-acre Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill for megaprojects like electric vehicle assembly and battery manufacturing plants […]
Virginia rises to No. 2 in CNBC’s Top States for Business
Rated America’s best state for education, Virginia climbed to the No. 2 spot in CNBC’s 2023 Top States for Business rankings, with North Carolina taking the top spot for the second year in a row. “Virginia is our most decorated state, a five-time winner,” the cable business news network said Tuesday, “but you’ll pay dearly […]
The cost of leaning in
In 1982, the comic strip “Frank and Ernest” noted that Ginger Rogers — standing in for all women — did everything Fred Astaire did but “backwards and in high heels.” Even 41 years ago, that sentiment felt like a well-known acknowledgement, and it still holds true now. This issue, in our third annual Women in Leadership […]
TCC expands Skilled Trades Academy
Tidewater Community College has kicked off the expansion of its Skilled Trades Academy, adding more space and more courses to its Portsmouth facility. The academy opened in 2019 with 20,000 square feet of space, and currently has three classrooms at 3303 Airline Blvd., which is enough room to hold three to six courses at a […]
Va. chamber to offer small biz health coverage
Finding affordable health insurance has long been a difficulty for small business owners and employees. Premiums may be affordable one year and could double the next. In 2020, Virginia’s average health insurance cost per person was $8,815, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, and 36.1% of people polled reported that they did not […]
Growing the talent pool
For tech worker Courtney Proffitt, summer 2020 was a transformative time. After roughly a decade away from her native Virginia, she found herself in an Airbnb rental on the outskirts of downtown Roanoke. “I was ready to try a new city after 10 years in Charleston,” recalls Proffitt, who earned her master’s degree from the […]
Pride in their work
When Kathryn Fessler interviewed with Altria Group Inc. in 2008, she was disappointed to learn that the Henrico County-based Fortune 500 tobacco manufacturing company didn’t have an employee resource group for LGBTQ+ employees. As an out lesbian, Fessler considered such groups a high priority when evaluating new workplaces, but she wound up taking the job […]
A severe case
When Staunton native Emma Harrison decided to pursue medicine, her grandfather asked his primary care doctor of several years, Dr. Katie Dunbar, to talk to Harrison about her profession. Harrison, then an undergraduate student at the University of Virginia, met with Dunbar, a physician at Carilion Clinic Family Medicine – Waynesboro, to discuss family medicine. […]
Va. launching semiconductor workforce initiative
The commonwealth is launching a Virginia Alliance for Semiconductor Technology to foster a semiconductor industry workforce, funding its establishment with a $3.3 million Growth and Opportunity for Virginia (GO Virginia) grant. Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced the initiative Friday. In March, GO Virginia announced the $3.3 million grant to the program, then called the Virginia Nanotechnology [&hellip[...]
Innovation, capital key to rural growth, Barkin and Warner say
There’s hope for economic growth in rural areas despite their challenges, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President and CEO Tom Barkin and U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said Wednesday during the Fed’s 2023 Investing in Rural America conference in Roanoke. Rural areas could overcome economic development challenges, particularly housing shortages and lack of broadband access, with innovation, [...]
