Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin today convened the West Virginia Workforce Planning Council for its monthly meeting, highlighting the state’s recent progress in meeting the workforce demands of businesses and industries.
As part of his comprehensive work to raise student achievement, Gov. Tomblin re-established and re-constituted the Workforce Planning Council in 2013 to coordinate initiatives, leverage resources and plan for the delivery of a comprehensive workforce strategy to ensure an integrated and strategic approach for aligning classroom learning with workplace needs. Gov. Tomblin has personally chaired the Council since that time.
“We have taken a holistic approach to ensuring West Virginia’s workforce is prepared and ready to meet the demands of our businesses and industries,” Gov. Tomblin said. “By bringing our top state officials across a variety of sectors to the same table every month for the past few years, we have been able to break down barriers and create new opportunities for West Virginians to get the education and training they need to succeed.”
Notable achievements of the Council include:
- Implementation of policies and initiatives, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) reform, WV Works, justice reinvestment, felon surety bond and juvenile justice and the Governor’s STEM Initiative;
- Launch of education and workforce programs, including My State. My Life., Learn and Earn, Career Pathways, Simulated Workplace, Governor’s School for Entrepreneurship, the Minority Business Expo, Dual Credit and Statewide College Credit Transfer; and,
- Establishment of retraining efforts and funding , including the Southern West Virginia Workforce Initiative, Veterans Training Programs, WV Bridging the Gap Consortium, Sector Strategies Job Training Website and Let’s Train WV.
“Going through Simulated Workplace has taught me so much and given me much more insight into a career than a typical classroom setting,” said Rachael Peele, a Simulated Workplace student at Fayette Institute of Technology. “Simulated Workplace turns okay students into great students, and great students into leaders.”
Members of the West Virginia Workforce Planning Council include Dr. Sarah Tucker, Chancellor of the Community and Technical College System; Dr. Paul Hill, Chancellor of the Higher Education Policy Commission; Keith Burdette, Secretary of the Department of Commerce; Dr. Michael Martirano, Superintendent of the West Virginia Department of Education; and, Russ Fry, Executive Director of Workforce West Virginia.
Additional information on the Council and its achievements can be found HERE.
