Yesterday, we hosted over 650 business, education and policy leaders at the Greater Richmond Convention Center for the 2017 Virginia Workforce Conference. This is a timely topic, as education and workforce has again emerged as the top issue for businesses in our Blueprint Virginia 2025 polling. Our discussion centered around Virginia’s workforce pipeline and how businesses can hire veterans to help close the workforce skills gap.

During the luncheon, the Department of Veterans Services presented the 5th Annual Virginia Values Veterans Awards. A number of Virginia Chamber members were recognized with an award for their commitment to hiring veterans. You can see the list here.

This week, you can hear where each of the candidates for statewide office stands on the issue of education and workforce in the Virginia Chamber Election Center’s candidate questionnaire videos. In the weeks leading up to the November election, we’ll release a new set of videos each week on various topics that impact Virginia’s business climate. See below for each week’s topic.

I hope you’ll also mark your calendars for the Virginia Economic Summit on December 1, where we’ll present Blueprint Virginia 2025 to the Governor-elect. More details will be released soon.

To read the full Chamber Briefings Newsletter, click here.