Chamber Wins National Award for Workforce Development Efforts
business, chamber of commerce, workforce development,
The Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce earned national recognition for its workforce development efforts in early 2009 by winning the W.O. Lawton Business Leadership Award.
The award, one of two prestigious awards bestowed annually by the National Association of Workforce Boards, was presented to the chamber in March 2009 at the NAWB Forum in Washington, in front of 1,500 attendees representing some 650 workforce-industry organizations.
The award recognizes the leadership of the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce in increasing the vibrancy of the local workforce and economy and elevating the relevancy of the West Piedmont Workforce Investment Board among area businesses, economic developers, educators and public and private funding organizations. The chamber outshined competition that included Aetna Capital (Hartford, Conn.), Lockheed Martin Aviation (San Antonio, Texas) and Lear Corp. (Spartanburg, S.C.).
“I want to give credit to the workforce investment board for nominating us,” says Laurie Moran, president of the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce. “The nomination was a tremendous honor in and of itself.”
The chamber worked with the WPWIB on a number of successful projects that led to the award, Moran says. For instance, the chamber helped secure a federally funded $250,000 regional innovation grant to address significant local manufacturing layoffs.
“This planning grant allowed us to look at issues affecting the entire region,” Moran explains. “With area businesses, economic developers and educators, we developed a bi-state initiative to look at where job growth can occur, assess what resources are available and determine where the gaps are.”
The chamber also played a key role in bringing to the region an additional $1.5 million over an initial three-year period from the National Fund for Workforce Solutions. Among some 20 regional organizations selected to partner with this national workforce-funding intermediary, the Dan River Region Collaborative is one of only two located in a rural area. Its dual leadership structure includes the Community Foundation of the Dan River Region, which serves as fiscal agent, and the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce as the project lead.
Finally, the chamber stepped up to help the WPWIB address pressing workforce needs of the community’s new and existing businesses with a solution that also benefits the region’s displaced workers.
“We worked with the community college to create a manufacturing technician certificate,” Moran says. “We brought in employers and educators to devise an 11-week intensive program modeled on a work day. So far, more than 100 people have completed the program, which is heading into its third year. Hiring for participants, even in the current economy, is in excess of 80 percent.”
Maximizing workforce efforts through collaboration with other key organizations remains a primary goal of the chamber as it continues to serve its 720-member businesses.
“This award helps validate and provide credibility for the work that we do,” Moran says. “It gives us a sense of pride to be recognized nationally for our ability to bring together organizations to collaborate.”
Story by Carol Cowan
