Northam announces expansion of workforce program 

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced recently that Virginia will invest $1.7 million during the next two years to expand the Network2Work program, a workforce development initiative established by Piedmont Virginia Community College that connects job seekers with local job networks and support services.

The state will partner with the Virginia Community College System to scale up the Network2Work model in the Shenandoah Valley, Hampton Roads, and Greater Richmond regions, targeting more than 70,000 families that live within the three pilot sites.

The program works with employers to post jobs with family-sustaining wages through an app-based database. Network2Work then reaches out to community-based connectors, who are well-respected individuals at the center of social networks in their neighborhoods, local organizations, schools, places of worship, and immigrant communities.

Connectors help identify and refer job seekers who are a good match for the available opportunities, and the program’s staff then help the job seeker chart a pathway to securing the job.

“People across our Commonwealth are facing unprecedented and far-reaching impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and challenging times like these call for innovative solutions,” said Governor Northam. “With the expansion of this program, we will get more Virginians back to work, help employers secure the talent they need to thrive, and put our economy in a strong position to rebound from this crisis.”

Network2Work was first developed through a partnership between the PVCC and the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce to make sure all residents in the region had support to get a job. To date, 85 percent of Network2Work job seekers have found jobs, and 59 percent of those jobs pay more than $25,000 annually. About 40 percent of the program’s participants are single mothers.

“The Network2Work framework is the most innovative approach to connecting job seekers with high-quality jobs that I have seen in my 42 years of community college work,” said PVCC President Dr. Frank Friedman. “I have been proud to witness the program’s growing impact, which served 19 job seekers in its first year and has now reached more than 900. Our employer network has grown from four to over 90 employers, offering a total of over $9 million in income to our program participants. We look forward to building on this strong foundation and sharing what we have learned with others to help improve the well-being of families across the Commonwealth.”

For details, visit pvcc.edu/network2work.