Regional Partnerships Bring $8.5 Million to Southwest Virginia

Regional partnerships bring $8.5 million into southwest Virginia via two Department of Labor grants for training (which includes tuition, new equipment and curriculum development).

 

The first was the Western Virginia CREATES (Construction, Retrofitting, and Energy-Efficiency Assessment Training and Employment Systems), which is a regional partnership that was funded through the  American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) through a U.S. Department of Labor “Energy Training Partnership” grant (award total $3.8 million) to teach workers the skills required in emerging energy efficiency and renewable energy industries and to connect those workers with employers needing to move their businesses forward in the green economy.  This collaborative partnership includes Community Housing Partners, Virginia Tech, NewVA Corridor Technology Council, New River Community College, Wytheville Community College, Virginia Western Community College, New River/Mount Rogers Workforce Investment Board and Virginia Western Workforce Development Board and covers 21 jurisdictions in Southwest Virginia (the counties of Bland, Carroll, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Pulaski, Smyth, Washington, Wythe, Alleghany, Botetourt, Craig, Roanoke, and Franklin and the cities of Bristol, Galax,  Radford, Salem, Roanoke, and Covington).  Community Housing Partners is the grant recipient and acts as fiscal agent.  Currently the two WIBs are in the process of outreach and taking applications from the unemployed, under-employed and small business owners for program participants (and assessments are being done to determine eligibility), equipment is being purchased by the community colleges, new curriculum is being developed between VT and the three community colleges and outreach to employers is ongoing by all partners. The grant runs January 15, 2010 through January 14, 2012.

 

The most recent is the Western Virginia HITE (Health Information Technology Education) initiative, which is a regional partnership that was funded through a U.S. Department of Labor “Community-Based Jobs Training” grant (award total $4.7 million) to provide training opportunities for medical records specialist/health information technicians, medical assistants, pharmacy technicians, licensed practical nursing (LPN) and registered nursing (RN) occupations.  The HITE initiative will provide training to incumbent workers, unemployed and underemployed in electronic medical records management through the five community colleges.  This collaborative partnership includes Mountain Empire Community College, Southwest Virginia Community College, New River Community College, Virginia Western Community College , and grant recipient & fiscal agent Virginia Highlands Community College, Southwest Virginia Workforce Board, New River/Mount Rogers Workforce Investment Board, Western Virginia Workforce Development Board, Virginia Tech, University of Virginia’s College at Wise, Carilion Clinic, Montgomery Regional Hospital (HCA), Pulaski Community Hospital (HCA), Clinch Valley Medical Center (Lifepoint), Holston Medical Group, Buchanan General Hospital and select locations of Mountain States Health Alliance and covers 29 jurisdictions in Southwest Virginia (the counties of Buchanan, Dickson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Tazewell, Wise, Bland, Carroll, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Pulaski, Smyth, Washington, Wythe, Alleghany, Botetourt, Craig, Roanoke, and Franklin and the cities of Norton, Bristol, Galax,  Radford, Salem, Roanoke, and Covington). This grant was awarded July 1, 2010 and ends June 30, 2013.  The partners will be scheduling a meeting in early August to set out the process for implementing this grant.