Go Virginia Initiative: Talent Attraction and Retention

Open the paper, listen to the business news or watch your favorite business news channel and you will hear about workforce in America. Who has an abundance of available skilled labor in America, which communities?  Who is closing the skills gap?
 
Our region is working together to ensure we rise to the top.  Because of our region's Workforce Development Board and our collaboration with Roanoke and Blacksburg regions we just received news that the region was awarded two GO Virginia grants. First, the workforce boards put together a "Region 2 Talent Collaborative" that aims to stimulate the region's economic growth by closing the "skill and interest gaps" among workers in middle-to high skilled occupations in manufacturing, healthcare, and information technology. 

Our region is also receiving a GO Virginia grant award for "Stopping the Brain Drain: Talent Attraction and Retention Strategy Development," led by three regional economic development organizations, the Roanoke Regional Partnership, Onward New River Valley, and the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance. The project will create a Talent Action Coalition involving employers, educators, and economic developers to develop and implement strategies for attracting and retaining recent graduates and alumni from colleges and universities across the Region.

Building partnerships and coalitions for regional workforce will advance our region. For more information on all the recent GO Virginia grant awards, view here.