Originals

On Saturdays, OmniRide will expand its local bus and transit services in western Prince William County.

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Schools

“Our innovative program raises awareness about the advantages of skills training and eliminates cost as a barrier to getting it,” said Patrick Small, Economic Development Director for the City of Manassas. “We have high-tech, high-wage jobs open with world-class employers in our community that don’t require college degrees,” he added. “We want our residents to get our jobs and are investing local resources to make that happen.”


News

Daniel Mendoza, a 17-year-old Osbourn High School senior and resident of the East End Mobile Home Park, has received a $1,000 scholarship from the Virginia Manufactured and Modular Housing Association (VMMHA).

The award was presented by CFH Executive Director George Davies, whose Dumfries, Va.-based nonprofit took ownership of East End in 2018 and continues to upgrade and add events and programs at the Centreville Road park.


News

Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) is excited to announce the appointment of William “Jake” Jacoby as the new chief of police.

Jacoby has served as the college’s assistant chief of police for ten years. Following a nationwide search, Jacoby was named to succeed Chief Dan Dusseau, who retired in May 2022.


News

Two Northern Virginia Community College Campuses in Prince William County will be renovated.

At the college’s Woodbridge campus, renovations will begin on the Seefeldt Building, a 144,000-square-foot center that opened in 1972 and has served as the campus’s central building, housing administration, classrooms, counseling services, and theater.


News

The funds will create a dedicated military and veteran fund as part of the Student Success Fund. NOVA is among the largest community colleges in the nation with six campuses serving more than 4,000 enrolled veteran and military students across Transurban’s Express Lanes system.

The NOVA Foundation provides financial support in the form of emergency grants and scholarships for academically successful students facing financial hardship stemming from healthcare, transportation, housing, and other basic needs. Transurban’s financial contributions to the fund will specifically support veteran and military affiliated students who face financial challenges while working towards graduation, reducing disruption to their continuous education.


News

Dr. Richmond Hill has been named Interim Provost of the Northern Virginia Community College Woodbridge Campus. He was named interim provost after the retirement of Dr. Sam Hill who served as provost for 17 years.

Hill served as a counselor, high school outreach coordinator, retention counselor, and coordinator of Student Success on the campus from 2009 until 2017.


News

Dr. Sam Hill announced his retirement at the end of the spring semester after a five-decade career in higher education.

Hill joined has served as provost at the Woodbridge Campus of Northern Virginia Community College since 2005. Over his 17 years, Hill has grown campus enrollment, adding to and updating the physical campus, expanding transfer and career programming, and welcoming signature student support programs like Year Up.


Business
[caption id="attachment_176280" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Fairfax, Prince William] announces a new data center lab at the Northern Virginia Community College Woodbridge Campus. [Photo: Rick Horner][/caption]

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Fairfax, Prince William) announced the opening of a new Data Center Lab at the Woodbridge Campus of Northern Virginia Community College.

Officials gathered Wednesday, March 23, to discuss data center training at the campus' workforce development center. College President Dr. Anne Kress praised  Connolly for his help procuring $5.1 million in funding for the data center lab.

Connolly worked alongside Virginia Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both Democrats, to obtain the funding.

"We are here to celebrate an important investment in our future," said Connolly. "To be a great community and a successful country, we have to invest in three things: education, workforce, and infrastructure."

The new data center lab will be built at the Woodbridge campus' Workforce Development Center, a 55,000 square-foot facility that cost $29 million when it opened in 2016. It will teach students the ins and outs of the data center industry, comprised of server farms that power the internet.

Prince William County is at the forefront of a significant expansion of data centers. A proposed Prince William Digital Gateway project, 2,130 acres, more than 800 times larger than Potomac Mills mall, near the Manassas Battlefield National Park, would be the home for data centers in the county.

Later this year, the Board of County Supervisors is expected to decide whether to update its comprehensive, long-range land-use plan to accommodate the project. Several data center companies have already taken interest and filed applications to rezone the land to build new campuses.

Returning the favor, Connolly praised Virginia community colleges, and Northern Virginia Community College in particular, as an essential investment in the future as a gateway to a four-year college and as a place of workplace development.

Connolly said he is disappointed a free community college program that had been a part of President Joe Biden's Build Back Better bill is dead.

Connolly was one of many guest speakers leading up to a panel discussion called Building the Technology Workforce of the Future, which focused on the value of workforce development for data center operations. Speakers included campus provost Dr. Sam Hill, Executive Director of the Loudoun County Department of Economic Development Buddy Rizer, and Neabsco District Supervisor Victor Angry.

The panelists discussed various aspects of the value of workforce development to sectors such as data center operations. One speaker, Sabey Data Centers General Manager Michael Whitlock, briefly discussed the partnership between his company and Northern Virginia Community College, which offers 10-week internships to students interested in seeking employment in data centers.

Whitlock also talked about approaching middle and high schools in the county with programs that could provide a path to work in data centers.

Another panelist, Northern Virginia Community College graduate and data center technician with Aligned Data Centers, talked about her experience getting into the field through the Northern Virginia Community College workforce development program and her experiences as a woman entering a STEM field.

After the panel, attendees were invited to take a tour of the various classes available through Northern Virginia Community College's Workforce Development Program. The Woodbridge Campus is home to Northern Virginia Community College's development programs in HVAC repair, cybersecurity, and film and cinema.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 77 percent of employers report that their employees gained skills in high-demand industries such as healthcare, infrastructure, and information technology through workforce development programs.

According to the same study, 74 percent of employers report a mismatch between the skills they need and their workers despite millions of job openings around the country.

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