Workforce Development

We Focus on Workforce Preparedness

Russell County is known for its dedicated workforce and for educating people to meet the actual needs of companies located in its boundaries. For example, when Northrop Grumman and CGI announced they were coming to Lebanon, local economic development entities, the educational community and government leaders formed a Workforce Development Advisory Team that worked with local community colleges to deliver a 34-week Fast Track ICT (Information, Communications and Technology) training program that helped fill immediate workforce needs. Today, these programs are an integrated part of curricula at the institutions.

For a longer-term solution, county leaders founded a technology training center, the Southwest Virginia Technology Development Center, as part of the Russell County Governmental Center, built in 2006. The nearby University of Virginia’s College at Wise was contracted to oversee the center, which, today, provides unprecedented ICT training and other learning and leadership development programs – all planned in partnership with local business and industry.

Another workforce development partner is the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center (in nearby Abingdon), which is a satellite teaching facility for nine colleges and universities in locations surrounding Russell. These schools include Emory & Henry College (Emory), King University (Bristol), Old Dominion University (Norfolk), Radford University (Radford), University of Virginia (Charlottesville), University of Virginia’s College at Wise, Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond), and Virginia Highlands Community College (Abingdon), and Virginia Tech (Blacksburg).

Initiatives in other parts of Virginia also help build our workforce, such as Engineers PRODUCED in Virginia, an undergraduate engineering degree taught online. The program was developed by the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and is carried out in Southwest Virginia through four nearby community colleges.

A concentrated effort has also been made in our Russell County Public Schools system to deliver classrooms enriched with STEM and ICT training initiatives that prepare students for technology jobs and additional collegiate technology training.

Learning Institutions That Feed our Workforce

Besides these immediate resources, 53 colleges and universities are located less than three hours from Russell County that help grow our workforce. Notably, six of these hold certifications from the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), a national accrediting agency for applied science, computing, engineering and engineering technology programs. The ABET-accredited programs are taught at East Tennessee State University, Radford University, Virginia Tech, University of Virginia’s College at Wise, Appalachian State University, and University of North Carolina-Asheville.

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