Featured Article: THE HRWC Supports the Maritime Industry Through a Structured Regional Training System

Last year, the Hampton Roads Workforce Council was selected by the U.S. Economic Development Administration as one of 32 awardees of the $500 million Good Jobs Challenge – funded by President Biden’s American Rescue Plan. As part of this initiative, the Workforce Council received an $11 million grant to lead the development and implementation of a Regional Workforce Training System – the region’s first structured workforce ecosystem that will focus on building a talent pipeline for priority industries.

With more than 60 partnerships forged with businesses, community-based organizations, and agencies, this groundbreaking workforce training system will launch as a gateway for jobs in the maritime industry – maritime welder, electrical technician, wind turbine technician, sheet metal fabricator, structural fitter, commercial driver, and more.

The Regional Workforce Training System, led by the Hampton Roads Workforce Council, covers a service area that includes 27 independent localities in Southeastern Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina with 1.9 million residents.  System efforts will center around five key pillars: Aligning regional workforce solutions; Attracting new talent to priority industries; Training and developing diverse talent to fill open positions; Retaining existing talent to upskill the regional workforce; and creating new jobs though increasing the capacity of small businesses. 

As important, the Regional Workforce Training System will enroll a minimum of 950 participants in maritime training programs with a goal of graduating and connecting at least 760 individuals to guaranteed employment interviews. Community based outreach and recruitment efforts will focus on maritime training and employment opportunities for minorities and other under-resourced and underrepresented populations.

In October 2022, the Hampton Roads Workforce Council began System Development efforts which included activities such as new project hires, executing subaward agreements, convening partners, and creating initial concept of operations. In April 2023, the project received EDA authorization to begin Program Design activities which will allow affiliated training partners to begin working on necessary curriculum development and capacity building projects.  Limited Program Implementation is anticipated to begin within the next few months, with full implementation being the goal this fall.

About the Author

Mrs. Amanda Slosson serves as a Senior Director for the Hampton Roads Workforce Council (HRWC).  In her current position she provides direct oversight of the development and implementation of the Hampton Roads Workforce Training System in support of 27 independent localities in Southeastern Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina, serving approximately 1.9 million residents.  As the project lead, she is responsible for planning and scheduling project related tasks, managing resources and costs, including subawards, and monitoring the quality of project outputs. She previously served as the Director of Strategic Development for the Council where she oversaw the coalescence of the industry talent requirements that the HRWC team collected, to develop a schedule-based, milestone-driven, metrics-based strategies for outreach, continuity of communication, data exchange, and evaluation where regional training and education partners are concerned.

Prior to working for the HRWC, Amanda held the position of Regional Transition Assistance Program (TAP) / SkillBridge Coordinator for Navy Region Mid-Atlantic (NRMA), where she monitored compliance regarding planning, implementation and administration of transition assistance programs and services for eligible personnel within the NRMA area of responsibility, encompassing over 15,000 transitioning Service members annually. During her tenure with NRMA she was awarded the 2019 Workforce Champion of the Year, a Hampton Roads Workforce Innovation Award, for her understanding of civilian workforce management, and her ability to develop and integrate internal and external program and services that directly affect military and civilian workforce communities. Additionally, in 2018 she received the Inaugural Virginia Values Veterans (V3) Installation Award for her outreach, collaboration and partnership with the Virginia Chamber Foundation and Virginia Department of Veterans Services.

A native of Decatur, IL, Amanda holds a Bachelor's degree in Marketing Communications from Columbia College Chicago and is a United States Navy Veteran.

For more information, including a full list of partners, visit theworkforcecouncil.org/good-jobs challenge or contact Amanda Slosson, Senior Director, Regional Workforce Training System,Hampton Roads Workforce Council at aslosson@theworkforcecouncil.org.

 

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