This year’s Workforce Conference on September 28 drew record attendance-nearly 600 attendees-as we discussed how hiring veterans can help close the workforce skills gap in Virginia. Special thanks to our conference co-hosts, the Virginia Values Veterans (V3) Program and the Virginia Society of Human Resource Managers. Employers learned about actionable steps that they can take to make hiring veterans a priority within their organizations. If you missed the event, you can learn more at http://www.dvsv3.com/. We were also pleased to have Governor McAuliffe join us at the luncheon, where he announced that over 18,000 veterans have been hired through the Virginia Values Veterans program. You can find links to view photos from the event here.

 

On October 4-5, we co-hosted the 68th Annual Virginia Conference on World Trade in Norfolk with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the Virginia Maritime Association and the Virginia Manufacturers Association. Increasing international trade continues to be a priority for the Virginia Chamber as a way to grow and diversify our economy. To learn more about Virginia’s world-class international trade programs, visit http://exportvirginia.org/.

 

Registration is now open for the 2016 Virginia Congressional Luncheon on November 16th on Capitol Hill. Join us to hear from Virginia’s Congressional Delegation on the important issues impacting the business community. Registration is limited to the first 200 individuals, and tables are still available. More information on the Congressional Luncheon can be found here.

 

I’d also like to ask you to save the date and plan to attend our 7th Annual Economic Summit on December 2nd. The summit will include the release of the 2^nd State of the Commonwealth Report and we’ll hear from the 2017 candidates for governor in Virginia.

 

At this year’s Summit, we will also announce the launch of Blueprint Virginia 2025. Since the release of the first Blueprint in 2013, our membership has nearly doubled to 25,000 businesses across the Commonwealth. That growth gives us an opportunity to update the Blueprint by engaging a broader cross-section of Virginia business leaders and establishing even more ambitious policy goals to achieve long-term economic growth in all regions. Over the next year, we will reconvene Virginia’s regional leaders and industry experts to analyze state and regional economies and identify specific economic drivers.

 

In the coming months, please be on the lookout for more information about how you can participate in the Blueprint 2025 process! We’ll be contacting our members and past Blueprint participants via email with more details.