The pre-apprenticeship program is part of Hershey’s planned expansion at its Augusta County plant and has been supported through a $4 Million American Apprenticeship Initiative grant awarded to the Shenandoah Valley Workforce Development Board (SVWDB) by the U. S. Department of Labor’s Employment & Training Administration.
Dean Dodson was a student in the August 2018 Wilson Workforce & Rehabilitation Center’s Manufacturing Technology Training class. He saw one of the social media posts for the Hershey Manufacturing Boot camp last spring and contacted the Shenandoah Valley Workforce Development Board directly.
Throughout the Shenandoah Valley Workforce Development Board region, SVWDB staff are engaged with sub-regional groups that are joining forces to support workforce development.
This years Workforce Solutions Symposium featured Catherine Conlon, a recent graduate from Wilson Workforce and Rehabilitation Center's Manufacturing Technology Training (MTT) program, a Division of the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, along with her instructor, Steve Sweeney, and Debby Hopkins from the Shenandoah Valley Workforce Development Board.
One would be quite surprised to learn of all the products manufactured in the Roanoke region that ship all over the world. Night vision goggles used by our military and police forces. Fiber optic cable following oil wells thousands of feet underground, and feeding cell towers our calls and data. Control systems for wind turbines. Railroad cars and braking systems. Keyless entry systems. Fine jewelry. Custom circuit boards. Medical devices, Automotive transmission components, tires and truck chassis. The list goes on and on.