To address Virginia’s estimated 249,000 unfilled skilled trades jobs, the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) brought together employers and education experts for its first Skilled Trades Summit in Roanoke. The event, part of a series of industry-focused summits addressing high-demand employment fields, examined solutions to close the Commonwealth’s skills gap and barriers to workforce entry through regional collaboration.
“Today is about finding answers to how we can work together to support the mission-critical industry that is skilled trades,” said VCCS Chancellor Dr. David Doré. “The network of Virginia’s Community Colleges is the only provider of workforce and education solutions with true statewide scope, uniquely attuned to both the broad needs of the Commonwealth and the nuanced needs of its communities.”
The summit highlighted several key initiatives and achievements:
- A 30% increase in enrollment for skilled trades programs, with completion rates consistently above 98%.
- Progress toward VCCS’s Accelerate Opportunity strategic plan goal of awarding 300,000 meaningful credentials by 2030.
- Successful partnerships with major employers like Amazon, which has invested in data centers across Virginia.
- Enhanced tuition assistance programs.
Industry leaders from Southern Air, Heavy Construction Contractors Association, and Altec joined educational experts and government officials, including Nicole Overley, Virginia Secretary of Workforce Development, to discuss solutions for Virginia’s workforce challenges.
The summit emphasized the critical role of Virginia’s 23 community colleges, which served more than 230,000 students across 23 schools in the past academic year. Notably, over 81% of VCCS graduates remain in Virginia, contributing directly to the commonwealth’s workforce and economic growth. These factors contribute to VCCS’s success in transforming the higher education landscape across the commonwealth.
“Investment, commitment, and collaboration are the answers to filling the workforce shortages holding us back from everything Virginia is ready to accomplish,” added Doré. “We cannot be a transformative leader in addressing the Commonwealth’s workforce and educational needs without significant and strategic financial investments, support, and ideas from our partners.”
The summit included regional breakout sessions aligned with GO Virginia regions, fostering connections between colleges and industry to ensure program completion leads to successful job placement in high-demand fields.