Virginia Tech Center for Economic and Community Engagement

Learn more about CECE's March advisory board meeting in our new blog post. ?? Executive Director John A. Provo facilitated a panel that covered capacity building in Blacksburg and Roanoke. The panel featured William Amos DCS, chair of the?GO Virginia Region 2?Council; Erin Burcham, president and CEO of the?Roanoke Blacksburg Innovation Alliance; and Kevin Byrd, executive director of the?New River Valley Regional Commission. ?? Director for Research Development Sarah Lyon-Hill led a discussion about growth and diversification planning for GO Virginia Region 2, encouraging the board to provide their feedback on the 2025 plan. ?? Emily Gibson, the director of local government and community relations for Virginia Tech, also spoke about the?Partnership for Progress initiative, a collaboration between the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg, Montgomery County, the New River Valley Regional Commission, and Virginia Tech. Read more: https://lnkd.in/erMScens

Get to know CECE Advisory Board member Elizabeth McClanahan! McClanahan serves as the CEO of the Virginia Tech Foundation, Inc. and the President of the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center. Before joining Virginia Tech, she spent eight years as a Justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia and held the roles of President and Dean at the Appalachian School of Law in Buchanan Co, Virginia. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eBR6pjki

The Virginia Tech Center for Economic and Community Engagement, the Virginia Tech Center for Rural Education, and the Virginia Tech Southwest Center are developing a needs assessment and strategic roadmap focused on recruiting, retaining and growing K-12 teachers in four Southwest Virginia counties: Grayson, Russell, Smyth, and Washington. Recently, director of the Southwest Center Allison Mays, economic development specialist Ashley Posthumus, and graduate assistant Makenzie Mann met with the superintendent of Washington County Public Schools Keith Perrigan, toured Watauga Elementary School, and facilitated a teacher focus group to understand the opportunities and challenges facing teachers in the county. Posthumus also traveled to Russell County to interview the superintendent of Russell County Public Schools Kim Hooker, toured Lebanon Elementary and Middle Schools, and conducted a focus group with teachers. CECE will be visiting Grayson and Smyth counties later this month.

GO Virginia Region 2 staff recently released the final report for the Talent Pathways Initiative. This report provides a deeper dive of two of Region 2’s largest and fastest-growing industry clusters: Life Sciences & Biotechnology and Transportation and Autonomous Manufacturing. “These key industries are ripe for sustained transformational growth, provided the region can meet its evolving talent development, retention, and attraction needs,” said Emmalee Wagner, who served as project coordinator for the Talent Pathways Initiative. The Talent Pathways Initiative partnered with existing coalitions with aligned long-term goals: the Blue Ridge Partnership for Health Science Careers and the New River Valley and Danville’s Additive Manufacturing and Advanced Materials Tech Hub (Virginia's AM2 Tech Hub). Read more: https://lnkd.in/egi-bnSU

Calling Virginia Tech faculty and graduate students! Do you have an idea for a project focused on bridging divides, reducing disparity, or broadening prosperity in Virginia? You are invited to submit project abstracts for the Vibrant Virginia Community Exploratories Seed Funding development program. 3-4 grants of $10,000-$13,000 will be awarded to each team. Awards will be made on a rolling basis, with a final deadline of April 15, 2025. University sponsors for this fiscal year include Outreach and International Affairs and Virginia Cooperative Extension (Official). Learn more and submit your application: https://lnkd.in/eh3cTZWM

Calling Virginia Tech faculty and graduate students! Do you have an idea for a project focused on bridging divides, reducing disparity, or broadening prosperity in Virginia? You are invited to submit project abstracts for the Vibrant Virginia Community Exploratories Seed Funding development program. 3-4 grants of $10,000-$13,000 will be awarded to each team. Awards will be made on a rolling basis, with a final deadline of April 15, 2025. University sponsors for this fiscal year include Outreach and International Affairs and Virginia Cooperative Extension (Official). Learn more and submit your application: https://lnkd.in/eh3cTZWM

Looking for experts? Our faculty members are ready to talk to you on a variety of subjects — including economic impact, strategic planning, grant development, entrepreneurship, workforce, and tourism. If you need a speaker at your event or meeting contact us now. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eNQEA7iB

We’ve officially crossed the Giving Day finish line! Thank you for investing in the Virginia Tech Center for Economic and Community Engagement. Your generosity helps to strengthen communities and economies across the commonwealth, creating opportunities for growth in every region.

We’re just moments away from crossing the Giving Day finish line, but we’re still going full speed ahead! There’s still time to support the Virginia Tech Center for Economic and Community Engagement and help advance the economic, community, and workforce development efforts we lead across the commonwealth. Don’t miss your chance to make an impact! Donate to CECE: https://lnkd.in/epazKNTh #VTGivingDay

It’s Giving Day! ???? The memories are strong, the experiences continue to be incredible, and the opportunity to be part of shaping the future of Virginia Tech is something I am incredibly grateful for. Join me on Giving Day to support Virginia Tech - I made donations to the Virginia Tech Newport News Center and Virginia Tech Center for Economic and Community Engagement. There is still time to donate - make sure to contribute before noon tomorrow (Thursday).? Funds raised for the Newport News Center will be used to provide no-cost community programming. Click here to donate today: https://lnkd.in/ePzCir_3