Virginia’s Community Colleges show how to #FastForward America

CNBC has ranked the Commonwealth of Virginia #1 among America’s Top States for Business in 2024.

As CNBC notes:

“This is the Old Dominion’s 6th time at the top of CNBC’s rankings, and its 3rd win in 5 years — a record unmatched by any other state since the study began in 2007.

In a rare feat this year, Virginia finishes in the top half or better in each of the study’s 10 categories.”

Virginia’s success is in great part due to the 23 colleges in the Virginia’s Community College System (VCCS) that train local workforce in skills in high demand in fast-growing sectors in the region.

VCCS Chancellor David Dore points to the success of the FastForward program, the first pay-for-performance workforce program in the country, which consistently boasts completion rates over 90%.

In the past 7 years, FastForward has produced over 52,000 in-demand industry credentials, and FastForward graduates have earned over $4 billion in wages in Virginia.

In a LinkedIn post, I explained why/how America is a #Forward Nation that always optimistically looks and moves forward (rather than desperately cling to the Past as many European nations do).

I also wrote that the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) can unlock nearly 4 million well-paying jobs across America

As I explain in my upcoming book The Frugal Economy, to create these 4 million jobs in the emerging multi-trillion-dollar clean-energy and green manufacturing sectors, we need to train FAST the youth by skilling them rapidly.

Only then can we make America not only move Forward, but move #FastForward — and become a global climate leader !

Virginia’s Community Colleges show how US schools, colleges, and universities can #FastForward #America.