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Workforce Training
There are numerous organizations throughout the area that offer training to the workforce.
Private Training Resources
The Appomattox Region abounds with private technical training resources, from business colleges to computer consultants that can help employers develop the occupational skills their workforce needs. Examples include Miller-Motte Business College and National Business College both less than 30 minutes away in Lynchburg.
Governmental Training Support
The following agencies of the Commonwealth of Virginia actively promote training options in the region:
- Department of Business Assistance
- Department of Labor and Industry
- Department of Rehabilitative Services
- Virginia’s A.L. Philpot Manufacturing Extension
Quality First
Quality First is a program that works with small teams of employees from area businesses and industries in 16-week training exercises concentrating in Total Quality Management. Team members learn to develop real strategies that enhance quality and productivity at all levels of a business. The program covers problem solving and analytical tools like statistical process control.
Quality First was the first program of its kind in the Virginia community college system. The program has trained hundreds of individuals from local industries and produced real savings for those companies—in excess of $10 million! Many companies use the program as the basis for company-wide quality improvement initiatives involving all employees.
ISO 9000
Companies that seek a competitive edge are moving toward certification under ISO 9000. This program is a series of international quality management standards that could become mandatory for US export firms. Appomattox County, through membership in the Region 2000 Economic Development Partnership, has helped local companies certify their operations to ISO standards, equipping them to take advantage of world trade growth opportunities.
Central Virginia Community College has registered assessors on staff who can guide companies through ISO 9000 certification. IQA-certified assessors offer gap analysis and pre-assessment services, as well as ISO planning, documentation, and internal audits workshops.
Skills Testing & Training
Central Virginia Community College offers skills training in CAD-CAM, electronics, programmable logic controls, machine tool trades, and industrial mechanics, to name a few.
Area industries that have expanded have relied on Central Virginia Community College to help select a workforce suited to their particular requirements. Custom pre-employment testing and training helps companies identify persons with the needed skills for specialized operations. The program begins with a comprehensive assessment by the college of an organization’s training needs. Companies that rely on employees to manage themselves through self-directed teams find the program particularly useful because it identifies persons with required motivation and interpersonal skills. In addition, trained Zenger-Miller facilitators can assist with team-building and supervisory training.
The Workforce Services Division of the Virginia Department of Business Assistance may cover a substantial portion of the cost of these services.
Other Services To Business
Central Virginia Community College’s extensive services for business and industry provide training in a broad range of disciplines. The college recently received $3.5 million for a new 35,000 square-foot building to house its Center for Business, Industry, and Government. The Center offers programs in:
- Analytical Problem Solving
- Apprenticeship
- Bar Coding
- Benchmarking
- Computer-Aided Design
- Computer-Aided Manufacturing
- Computer-Integrated Manufacturing
- Design Modeling
- Electronics
- Foreign Languages
- Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing
- Industrial Mechanics
- Just-In-Time Delivery
- Local Area Networks (LAN)
- Materials Resource Planning
- Metrics
- Personal Computers
- Project Management
- Prototype Testing
- Robotics
- Statistical Process Control
- Strategic Planning
- Supervisor Training (Zenger-Miller)
- Taguchi Methods
- Team Building (Zenger-Miller).
Additional Information on Education and Training
Click here for additional information on education, particularly advanced educational opportunities for the workforce.
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