When Blue Ridge Community College (BRCC) received part of a $5 million grant to help train pharmaceutical workers in the region for a company struggling to access talent, other local employers began to take note. BRCC was attracting a pool of talented students, and Merck, the…
Getting a workforce credential at your local community college is a valuable way to get a leg up in your current career – or start a new career altogether. Because the trainings take weeks, not years, to complete, buckling down and studying hard will help you…
As we celebrate the hard work and dedication of pharmacists across the country, today also serves as a reminder to express gratitude for the many other pharmacy-related workers who help patients access prescriptions and medications around the clock. A pharmacy technician is a key supportive role…
You can’t turn on the news nowadays without hearing about “workforce development” or some other employee shortage. Now that we’re in a new year and the Virginia General Assembly session is about to kick into gear, the conversation in Virginia is only going to get hotter….
With record-low unemployment, Virginia has an enormous need for workers to fill an estimated 300,000 open jobs, according to Governor Glenn Youngkin, who has asked business and education leaders for transformational ideas that will help fill these jobs quickly. It’s a daunting task. Not only is…
For the first few years of FastForward, we wanted to make the case for exploring workforce training offerings by connecting individuals with a career coach. In doing so, students discovered which career pathway was right for them. But over time, we started to see more and…
FastForward programs across Virginia’s 23 community colleges offer funding to help students complete short-term workforce training in high-demand industries. The qualifying industries range widely but all have one thing in common: the programs are based on the needs of local employers, which means students are in…
There’s a chance you are stumbling upon this blog post, and it’s your very first time hearing the words “FastForward workforce training.” But we’re actually several years into a program that was established in 2016. Back then, the General Assembly wanted a program to create and…
So, you recently started a new job and are working alongside people with years of experience under their belt in either welding, carpentry, truck driving, power line maintenance or another skilled trade. These senior workers possess a deep understanding of the industry, and working with them…
If you’ve been following Virginia workforce news lately, you may have seen a trend: information technology (IT) jobs are on the rise. Don’t let the Meta and Twitter layoffs steer you away from the future of the IT industry, as companies such as Hitachi Energy, FiberX…