RICHMOND, VA – Dennis H. Treacy, Chairman of the Virginia Business Higher Education Council (VBHEC), and Kirk Cox, VBHEC President, today issued the following statement regarding Governor Youngkin’s budget proposals:
We applaud the forward-looking investments in talent development and retention contained in Governor Youngkin’s budget proposals today. As the Governor emphasized, Virginia must make strategic investments to win the increasingly intense competition among states for talent.
Each young Virginian should have an opportunity for a paid internship or apprenticeship with a Virginia employer on a pathway to full-time employment here in the Commonwealth. The investments proposed by Governor Youngkin today take another important step toward making these opportunities a reality.
Building on the historic investments in higher education and talent development included in the biennial budget adopted earlier this year, the Governor’s targeted talent initiatives will help provide the well-prepared workforce needed to fill in-demand positions in all regions of the Commonwealth, enhance job readiness and opportunities for Virginians, and begin to reverse our loss of talent to other states.
Notably, each of the Governor’s proposed investments — in internships, talent pathways, dual enrollment, workforce credentialing, and community college access and career services — supports a specific recommendation in our Growth4VA plan to make Virginia the top state for talent (available at growth4va.com/plan).
Through Growth4VA, business and higher education leaders and thousands of grassroots Virginians are working to create affordable talent pathways from learning to earning that are accessible for all Virginians. Governor Youngkin’s strong commitment to that agenda is evident in today’s budget proposals. We appreciate his support, and we look forward to advancing these goals in the upcoming session of the General Assembly. We trust that strategic investments to make Virginia the top state for talent will continue to enjoy broad, bipartisan support.
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