STUTTGART, Germany – (Jul. 27, 2023) – The Hampton Roads Alliance, Hampton Roads Workforce Council, 弗吉尼亚海滩经济发展中心接待了大学校长和官员, community colleges, 和来自汉普顿路的技术学院上周访问了斯图加特, Germany — visiting with educational, business, and political leaders in the area. The delegation, 其中包括汉普顿路的市长和商界领袖, 探索了德国的双轨职业财富cff888与培训(VET)项目, a national workforce development pipeline. The VET program supports roughly 1.3 million vocational apprentices per year throughout the country and operates as the main vehicle driving talent development within the landscape of Germany’s high-tech industries.

President Marcia Conston (Tidewater Community College); President Corey McCray (Paul D. Camp Community College); President Towuanna Porter Brannon (Virginia Peninsula Community College); Executive Vice President Joel A. English (Centura College and Aviation Institute of Maintenance); Campus President Andy Gladstein (ECPI University); and Associate Vice President for Corporate Partnerships Sarah Jane Kirkland (Old Dominion University) conducted a weeklong visit to apprenticeship sites around Baden-Württemberg, the southwestern region of Germany. 汉普顿路市长肯尼斯·亚历山大(诺福克)也加入了财富cff888界和商界领袖的行列。, Bobby Dyer (Virginia Beach), Shannon Glover (Portsmouth), Donnie Tuck (Hampton), and Rick West (Chesapeake).

代表团参观了制造商的公司总部, business development offices, 以及与职业财富cff888培训计划相关的技术学校校园和学徒场所. This included the Gewerbliche Schulen vocational school in Donaueschingen and the Oscar-Walcker-Shul vocational school in Ludwigsburg. 学术带头人采访了技校学生, school administrators, company leaders, and instructors to identify how best practices from this 150-year-old technical education model could be adapted within the Hampton Roads education ecosystem.

Leaders from the region’s universities, community colleges, 技术院校分享了他们此次访问的重要收获.

•“与德国主要工业和财富cff888机构接触的机会非常宝贵. Many of their best practices and innovation will influence our thinking as we consider ways to strengthen and expand apprenticeship programs throughout Hampton Roads. Hearing from students who started apprenticeship pathways as early as age fourteen was impactful for our team, and I am excited about the next steps we will take systematically and strategically to strengthen the region’s workforce.”

Dr. 玛莎·康顿，潮水社区学院校长

• “It became clear to us that technical education in Germany begins in elementary school and blossoms in high school, and that the innovative manufacturers and industries throughout Germany rely on the workforce development model found in the VET program.”

Dr. 乔尔·英格利希，Centura学院和航空维修研究所执行副校长

• “Germany is impacted by talent shortages, labor force skills gaps, low unemployment rates, and social misperceptions of the career, trades, and technical professions, just like we are in Hampton Roads. But the VET program demonstrates how coordinated and intentional investments from businesses and government can support a post-secondary talent pipeline apprentice system to meet employer demands.”

Dr. Towuanna Porter Brannon，弗吉尼亚半岛社区学院校长

• “It was inspiring to learn how the German apprenticeship model has evolved to support a culture that recognizes the importance of skilled trades across the economy.”

安迪·格拉德斯坦，ECPI大学校园校长

• “The German VET program provides a framework for the development of a similar model in our region with student success, workforce, 与经济发展共生. 我期待着与其他机构的同行一起实施这一倡议.”

Dr. Corey McCray, President, Paul D. Camp Community College

•“这项劳动力准备计划完全符合老道明大学的战略愿景, 我们渴望支持和推进这个联盟的工作. 我们的战略计划与这一倡议的目标密切相关, and we are working more closely than ever with our business community to create a talent pipeline that has a meaningful impact on our region. It is through this important work with our valued partners that we will create greater opportunities right here in our region for generations to come!”

Dr. Brian O. Hemphill, President, Old Dominion University


One of the key attributes of the VET program is the inclusion of industry partners as investors in the educational model. 不仅制造商的生产设施被用作学徒的培训场所, 但德国雇主为课程提供意见是很常见的, trainers to oversee the work of apprentices, and training equipment used to teach students on the direct technologies and tools that they will use in the workplace.

During the week, 代表团还参观了Stihl和IMS:Gear公司总部, 在汉普顿路和德国南部都有工厂的制造商, to understand how the companies rely on apprentices within the local secondary education system to fill workforce demands.


重新构想汉普顿路的职业和技术财富cff888

As a next step, the academic leaders, mayors, 商界领袖也同意将重点放在高中之间的合作上, universities, community colleges, and technical colleges in Hampton Roads, 以模拟职业财富cff888培训计划的属性.

“很明显，弗吉尼亚州的财富cff888途径得到了政治和财政上的支持, and we are hopeful that the educational, political, and business leaders are able to work efficiently in Hampton Roads to seize the moment that this mission pulled into focus,” said Shawn Avery, President and CEO, Hampton Roads Workforce Council.

根据代表团在访问期间的调查结果, next steps will also include conversations with Hampton Roads and Virginia legislators and business leaders to share elements of the VET model that could be effective in Hampton Roads. 模拟德国职业技术培训计划的许多属性, the delegation has begun construction of a partnership that will bolster economic growth and maximize economic development opportunities in Hampton Roads by creating a skilled workforce ready to meet the demands of key industries. 这个方案将强调社会经济公平, cultural sensitivity, and historical awareness of all students, regardless of their backgrounds, 同时借鉴德国的财富cff888模式. The program, 由汉普顿路劳动力委员会协调, will feature work-based learning, internships and apprenticeships, 以及财富cff888机构和产业之间的合作.

“随着联盟和劳动力委员会起草汉普顿路市政当局之间的谅解备忘录, educational institutions, 和商业组织阐明工作的目标, 我们期待着整个区域的合作, characterized by mutual respect and shared commitments to implementing characteristics of the German educational model,” said Doug Smith, 汉普顿路联盟的总裁兼首席执行官.

The leaders plan to assemble regularly, inviting legislators and business leaders to join the technical education coalition to strengthen opportunity for students in Southeastern Virginia and enhance workforce development pathways to support local industry.