The Roanoke Times has an excellent piece outlining Virginia’s deepening problem regarding trained and skilled workers. Thought the piece doesn’t really go into (or blame) Virginia’s education system for not treating this as a priority, Duncan Adams does exemplify a man who is being seen in the news an awful lot lately: Virginia Senator Tim Kaine.
The discussion with over 100 business leaders was held at Virginia Western Community College in Botetourt County, and Kaine echoed the comments expressed at VWCC while on tour at the Botetourt Technical Education Center:
Kaine said he had an affinity — but not necessarily an aptitude — for welding because his father, Al Kaine, ran Ironcrafters in Kansas City, Missouri.
Kaine said his father’s work had nurtured in him a special passion for career and technical education.
Among those who met Kaine at the welding lab Tuesday was Brian Price of Altec, which has a manufacturing plant in Botetourt County that produces bucket truck assemblies, truck-mounted cranes and more.
Altec was one of several employers in Botetourt County that contributed money to outfit the new welding lab. Others included Tread Corp., Arkay Packaging and Dynax America.
According to welding instructor Troy Linkenhoker, fundraising efforts by the Botetourt County Public Schools Education Foundation have raised about $375,000 to date for the new welding facility and need to raise about $225,000 more to outfit the lab.
Read it all.
Workforce development is sadly one of those hot potatoes that no one in Richmond really wants to be seen picking up, ostensibly because it costs money Richmond doesn’t have. Yet the utter lack of skilled workers and tradesmen is beyond apparent to many on both ends of the employer/employee divide.
Some of this problem could be resolved with post-secondary education. A radical (but incredible) solution would be to employ something states such as Missouri have done, offering 2-year community college scholarships to those who graduate from high school with a 3.0 GPA or better and encouraging them to apply for trades and certifications.
If Virginia via Hampton Roads is going to be one of the major entrepôts of the world economy, one has to be gratified that at least a handful of voices are speaking up.
