By Jenni Canterbury
David Bostic, a small business owner in Greenbrier County, WV, moved out of state after graduation in the mid-1990s. However, his longing for the sense of family and community in West Virginia brought him home to start his business.
“I want to help keep kids here, and I want them to see the job opportunities here because there are jobs,” he says. “We just have to connect people to training. My building company has four employees who do HVAC work, and our phone never stops ringing. We can’t keep up.”
Dr. Jerry Wallace at Workforce Round-Up Beaver. Photo by Jenni Canterbury.
Connecting people to training sums up what Dr. Jerry Wallace, dean of technical and workforce programs at New River Community and Technical College (CTC), has been working to do for a little over a year now. Wallace isn’t surprised by Bostic’s experience—he has heard similar stories from other regional business owners. These conversations led to the development of the college’s Breakfast Workforce Round-Ups—events that bring together those working in business, local government and education to talk about their needs and how they can work together.
The February 2019 meetings, which were held at the college’s four campuses in Beaver, Lewisburg, Princeton and Summersville, featured announcements on new academic programs and workforce training to be offered through New River CTC.
“The college develops training and academic programs based on demand and what regional industries need,” says Wallace. “Currently we’re working with four lumber companies to develop a 10-week training based on the skills and knowledge they need their employees to have. Students will receive OSHA, electrical and lumber grading training at the college and gain hands-on experience through paid internships working at a lumberyard.”
New River CTC had received funding in the past through the state-sponsored Learn and Earn initiative to give students in the electric distribution engineering technology technical degree program—also known as line service—the opportunity to work as paid interns at sponsoring companies. The initiative allows the state of West Virginia to reimburse the employer 50 percent of the student’s salary. The college has recently expanded the number of paid internship opportunities to the automotive and welding programs along with the HVAC workforce training. New River CTC is the first in the state to receive Learn and Earn funds for workforce training.
As the field of barbering experienced growth, New River took notice. Currently the only barbering program in the state is offered in Charleston. New River offers cosmetology at its Greenbrier Valley campus in Lewisburg and will be launching a barbering program in August.
Beyond working with employers looking at the regional need for training, the college has been working on agreements with career and technical education centers in the region to build career ladders through Earn a Degree, Graduate Early—or EDGE—transferring credits earned while in high school at a career and technical education center to New River.
Workforce Round-Up Lewisburg. Photo by Jenni Canterbury.
“Students coming out of high school welding or automotive programs can start at New River in the second semester of the program,” says Wallace. “Because of the Learn and Earn opportunities we’ve established, they can graduate from high school, complete a semester at New River and then be eligible for a paid internship.”
Wallace met with an instructor at the Mercer County Technical Education Center, who said most of his automotive students were leaving the state to find jobs after graduating from high school.
“Because of the agreements we have in place, we’re able to go talk to the students and explain the benefit of continuing their education,” says Wallace. “If they come to New River, we’re going to connect them with an employer in our region for a paid internship. They can graduate from high school and within a year and a half have an associate’s degree and a job without leaving West Virginia.”
Moving quickly has been key to making connections. When Mid-State Automotive attended the workforce roundup in Nicholas County and expressed interest in working with the college, New River representatives met with the dealership the next day. New River will continue the workforce round-ups in March, and individual workforce and technical programs hold advisory meetings throughout the year.
About the Author
Jenni Canterbury is the director of communications for New River Community and Technical College. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications arts and a master’s degree in global marketing from Emerson College in Boston.
