Virginia Economic Review

Peter Beard is vice president of policy and programs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, where he leads workforce development projects and initiatives.

When Lydia Ruffin began work as a restaurant server, her goal was to support herself through school. She could not have anticipated how profoundly that entry-level job would shape her career.

Key investments at Virginia Tech, George Mason, University of Virginia help the Commonwealth position itself as a home for AI Innovation

Home to one of the largest concentrations of active duty and veteran talent in the country, Virginia has engineered an ecosystem that helps those who served translate military experience into high-value private sector careers.

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.

As more tenured employees must upskill and reskill to adjust to an economy that is increasingly reliant on technology and, specifically, artificial intelligence (AI), Generation Z workers are entering the labor market as the first generation of digital natives.

L. Scott Bradshaw enrolled at Mountain Empire Community College (MECC) in Wise County as a student who needed a second chance after spending 57 months in prison. He had a job in a tire shop, but he wasn’t earning enough to pay off his fines and take care of his daily needs.

Alison Lands is vice president of employer and workforce solutions at Jobs for the Future (JFF), a national nonprofit that works to align the education and workforce systems to improve access to quality jobs for over 75 million American workers.

Tamara Fields is the national U.S. public service industry lead at Accenture, and managing director of the company’s Austin, Texas office.

Virginia’s long-held reputation as a top state for business is based on its strong economy, robust infrastructure, innovative incentives and programming, and, increasingly, its highly skilled workforce.

When Julia Boas and her husband, Patrick, have an errand to run or a friend to visit in their hometown of Roanoke, they rarely go by car. Instead, they hop on their e-bikes.

When executives at Traditional Medicinals decided to build an East Coast manufacturing and processing operation, they cast a wide net.

Brantley Ivey, general manager of River Ridge Land and Cattle Co. and managing partner of Landcrafted Food, recalls overhearing a farmer comment at the Virginia Governor’s Conference on Agricultural Trade: “If you’re not selling everywhere you can domestically, don’t consider exporting.”

Beth Macy is a three-time New York Times-bestselling author. She is the author of “Factory Man,” “Truevine,” and “Dopesick,” books that tell separate stories, but all stories through which the challenges, issues, prospects, and hopes of rural America are studied in different ways.

Seth Martindale is a senior managing director with CBRE Consulting. He has extensive experience in real estate strategic planning, working with both private and public sector clients.

Ben Davenport has been a champion for economic development in rural Virginia for decades. Davenport is chairman of First Piedmont Corporation as well as Davenport Energy.

Companies Find Tech Talent in the Mountains and Valleys of Virginia Big cities have long been synonymous with economic opportunity. But what if that's not universally true?

Virginia Talent Accelerator Program Delivers Custom Workforce Solutions to Companies How does a company find and train the skilled employees that will ultimately determine whether it succeeds or fails?