NORFOLK, Va. — Over the last few years, local agencies have boosted efforts to grow the Hampton Roads economy and fill vacant job positions.
“We’re coming in as the workforce council to make sure that those businesses have the talent they need to be successful,” said Shawn Avery, the president of the Hampton Roads Workforce Council.
Avery said his team worked on recruitment efforts, on-the-job training, and youth career fairs. Those efforts helped bring growth to Hampton Roads.
The Hampton Roads Alliance announced the region’s February unemployment rate has dropped to 3.2%, falling below the first quarter national average which is 3.8%.
“The hospitality industry, they’re seeing record growth right now," Avery said. "Information technology, advanced manufacturing, healthcare.”
Doug Smith, the president of the Hampton Roads Alliance said collaborating with other cities and organizations helped to get to this point.
“It takes a lot of organizations to take a region that’s really 17 different cities and counties to get them working together,” Smith said.
“Each year, roughly 14,000 military personnel leave service and enter the private sector, roughly 7,000 of them stay here in Hampton Roads, which offers businesses in the region an abundance of skilled, experienced, and highly disciplined workers,” said Jared Chalk, the chief business development officer at the Hampton Roads Alliance.
The work doesn’t stop here. The Hampton Roads Alliance continues to think about different recruiting efforts and what needs new businesses could come to Hampton Roads.
“We really see offshore wind, as a space that can bring 5 or 6,000 new jobs as a brand new industry into this market.
This Thursday, the Hampton Roads Alliance and the Hampton Roads Workforce Council will hold a work readiness panel to discuss skills young people need to enter the workforce. It will take place at The Landing Hotel at Hampton Marina from 3 to 5 p.m.