Virginia employers had more than 200,000 job openings in July, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Public school systems are working to meet that demand by tweaking their career and technical education programs, including in Roanoke County, where construction of a new center reached a milestone last week.
Roanoke County celebrated the topping out of its $76 million, 123,000 square-foot Roanoke County Career & Technology Center, which will be nearly twice the size of its current facility, the Burton Center for Arts and Technology. But even before construction is complete, school leaders already are thinking about what's next.
"By the time it opens we need to be ready to pivot and work with industry to make sure we’re still cutting edge," says Jason Suhr, Roanoke County's director of career and technical education. "We don’t want to be reactive we want to be proactive, so we’re ready when those changes are needed."
He says keeping pace with industry is a challenge that requires constant anticipation and adaptation. The center will offer classic programs such as welding and cosmetology. But the mix is constantly shifting.
"Our current offerings include anything from cosmetology to criminal justice to cyber security, welding, motorsports, building trades," Suhr says. "We also have early childhood education for the teaching profession. So there’s a wide gamut."
Sometimes adjustments must be made. The county expanded machining into a broader program now called Mechatronics/Robotics that aims to better meet the needs of students and manufacturers both.
"There's still a lot of machining involved with that, but students also get some of the additive manufacturing, some of the 3-D printing, they get pneumatics, hydraulics," Suhr says. "They get a lot of education that makes them well rounded to launch into a manufacturing career."
Several years ago, the county saw waning student interest in horticulture and landscaping. So it wound down that program, and launched a new one to train Emergency Medical Technicians. That became the county's first health sciences program. It's since partnered with Carilion Clinic and others to offer radiology and then nursing. That partnership includes helping to provide instructors, offering input on the content of the programs and the equipment needed, and sometimes even providing space at Carilion facilities.
"Carilion has bent over backwards to help us develop and be successful at these programs, and it’s very valuable to the school system," says Suhr.
Other private sector partners are giving money to the county's $5 million dollar fundraising campaign for the center. Bower Heating and Air and Simpson Funeral Home both contributed $100,000, and Alro Steel gave $200,000. The new Roanoke County Career & Technology Center will add three new classes to the mix, including dental training, collision repair, and HVAC work. School leaders already are looking to what's next. The new center will include flex space that can be adapted, as well as the potential to expand even further. But it's not just new classes that are attracting interest from students. Roanoke County's most popular career program? is cosmetology.
"The student can come to Burton Center and in the future to Roanoke County Career & Technology Center and take that program and leave with their state board license," Suhr says. "We have a very limited number of students that can enter that program, 20 a year, so that is a very sought-after program."
Other school systems also are adjusting their programs. Franklin County is considering a new CTE center to replace the current facility, which is more than 30 years old. In Alleghany County, the Jackson River Technical Center recently expanded its nursing program. It launched new building management program and a program that can help qualifying students obtain a commercial driver's license by the time they graduate.
Meanwhile, construction continues on the Roanoke County Career & Technology Center. It's expected to open by late 2026 or early 2027.
