Virginia Economic Review

New or expanding companies want to know that they will be able to hire workers with the skills they need. While outside training providers offer established but generic faculty, facilities, and programs, in-house solutions allow for customization but require significant investment.

Brett Vassey is president and CEO of the Virginia Manufacturers Association (VMA), a trade association that supports manufacturing operations across Virginia.

Labor shortages have long been a challenge in agricultural operations, spurring innovative new ways of operating. Today’s farms rely as much on GPS-guided technology and artificial intelligence-driven automation as they do on manual labor.

Expertise in grapevine grafting and propagation, basic tractor repair, fermentation, and wine racking aren’t exactly skill sets that are widely found among the general population. Yet they are skills upon which the more than 800 wineries, breweries, cideries, and distilleries in Virginia depend.

One Virginia company’s vision of how we grow our food may sound like science fiction. But it’s getting an unusual assist from a unique partnership forged by VEDP’s International Trade Division.

In the spring of 2018, Kristen Wilson wanted to jump back into full-time work after spending several years at home with her two children.