Mountain Gateway Community College (MGCC) is part of the Virginia's Community College System (VCCS) effort to prepare the thousands of employees needed to shore up the state’s infrastructure, according to college officials. The VCCS, made up of 23 school across the commonwealth, has introduced a new program to train thousands of workers to help rebuild the state's aging roads and bridges and bring much needed upgrades to airports, ports and utilities statewide.
In August, the VCCS announced the establishment of the Virginia Infrastructure Academy (VIA) to coordinate, scale up and replicate successful infrastructure-related community college training programs.
Those programs have already produced 4,000 graduates and the VCCS hopes to swell that number to 35,000 over the next five years. The state will need those graduates; according to labor market analytics from EMSI, employers from Virginia are having a hard time filling upwards of 100,000 infrastructure jobs, which are high-paying and carry advancement opportunities.
Last fall, Congress adopted the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which has a $1.2 trillion commitment over the next five years for transportation, clean water, solar and wind energy, broadband expansion and more. Virginia is set to receive at least $10 billion from that, with additional funding coming from grants and other sources.
The VIA will see Virginia’s community colleges partner with business leaders to ensure training programs – including heavy construction and maintenance, focusing on roads, bridges and tunnels; broadband expansion; and wind and solar energy infrastructure and distribution – not only address current but also future needs.
“This is vital to the success of many Virginia businesses,” said Virginia Secretary of Labor George “Bryan Slater. Our infrastructure workforce demands are growing daily. And initiatives like the VIA will help ensure that skilled and qualified people are available for hire, leading to a best-in-class workforce in Virginia.”
"The availability of a trained, skilled workforce continues to stand out as a significant challenge to infrastructure construction and maintenance industries in the commonwealth," Sharon Morrissey, interim chancellor of VCCS, explained in a statement. "Through the VIA initiative, we will continue to leverage resources, expand collaboration and provide short-term industry training and credentials leading to employment for thousands of Virginians."
“There’s never been a better and more affordable time to consider career training,” said Gary Keener, Vice President of Workforce Solutions at MGCC. According to Keener, “several programs at MGCC fall into the VIA area such as electrical, forestry, maintenance, renewable energy and welding. Also, additional high demand programs can be added as needed by the businesses in our region. We want to make sure individuals in the MGCC service region are aware of the programs being offered through the VIA initiative and the opportunities that exist in these high-demand areas that support the infrastructure workforce.”
“We are thrilled to bring another in-demand program to our service area,” said Dr. John Rainone, MGCC President. “This new program meets the needs of the infrastructure industries, provides short-term industry training and credentials leading to employment, as well as long-term career development training for our region of the State.”
Private Funding Also Boosting VIA's Efforts
To give a financial lift to the VIA, the Lumina Foundation is funding the academy's start-up costs with a two-year, $400,000 grant. The gift will support an initial review of existing infrastructure programs across Virginia's community college system, a plan for program growth through in-person and virtual offerings, and outreach to potential students, according to a news release.
Lumina is an independent, private foundation, based in Indianapolis, Ind., that is committed to creating opportunities for students who want to learn beyond high school.
The VCCS noted that people who choose to pursue training in a high-demand infrastructure field may find them to be among the most affordable options in higher education today. Financial aid programs like FastForward, which is available at MGCC, often allow students to pursue and complete these programs for little or no out-of-pocket costs, according to the VCCS. MGCC FastForward Career Coach Robin Jennings may be contacted at (540) 863-2899 or rjennings@mgcc.edu.
For more information, contact Gary Keener at (540) 863-2900 or gkeener@mgcc.edu