Our county continues to invest in the workforce development needed to make companies in Russell County successful. In 2006, county leaders founded a technology training center, the Southwest Virginia Technology Development Center, as part of the Russell County Governmental Center.

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 CGI announced they were coming to Lebanon, local economic development entities, the educational community and government leaders formed a Workforce Development Advisory Team. This team 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. Nearby universities oversee the center which provides unprecedented ICT training and other learning and leadership development programs - all planned in partnership with local business and industry.

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.

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.

• The University of Virginia's College at Wise (Wise County) offers a bachelor's degree in software engineering.
• Fast track software programming, IT help desk training, and manufacturing technology programs are among the learning options offered by community colleges and workforce training centers in Southwest Virginia.
• Both Mountain Empire Community College and Southwest Virginia Community College provide training for the Career Readiness Certificate (CRC), which helps employers determine job qualification levels of job applicants.

Russell County focuses on the following strategic components of modern business - electronic information technology, energy, education and emerging technologies. Two Fortune 500 companies have operations here: AT&T Wireless and American Electric Power.

• American Electric Power (Cleveland) - provides electric utility services.
• AT&T Wireless (Lebanon) - provides call center services.
• CGI (Lebanon) - U.S. onshore delivery center supporting global information technology and business process services.
• E. Dillon & Company (Swords Creek) - produces and sells construction aggregate, mine safety dust, and other products.
• LACorp (Lebanon) - manufactures apparel items and home furnishings.
• Mountain Materials (Old Castle Stone) (Castlewood) - operates stone quarry and manufactures masonry, lawn, garden and paving products.
• Russell County Medical Center (Lebanon) - provides comprehensive healthcare services.
• Steel Fab - Samuel Pressure Vessel Group (Lebanon) - manufactures pressure vessels for North American and international markets.
• Rogers Group Inc. (Hansonville) - provides crushed stone, sand and gravel, asphalt and highway construction.
• Cleco Corporation (Rosedale) - provides grading and excavation services and highway, bridge, pipeline and railroad construction.
• First Bank & Trust Company (Lebanon) - houses regional office for banking system.
• New Peoples Bank (Honaker) - houses regional office for banking system.
• JM Conveyors (Lebanon) - manufactures state-of-the-art conveyor belt structures.