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IALR Shares Partnerships, Progress and Transformation in Annual Report

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IALR Shares Partnerships, Progress and Transformation in Annual Report

IALR Shares Partnerships, Progress and Transformation in Annual Report

The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) has published its 2021-2022 annual report, which highlights innovative and collaborative partnerships across departments that are transforming the economy of Southern Virginia.  

“Significant economic growth has resulted due to robust partnerships across the region. IALR stands ready to serve as Virginia’s go-to partner for education and workforce development, business and economic growth, and a globally competitive business ecosystem.” – IALR President Telly Tucker.

View the Full Report 

One of the pivotal moments of the report period is the creation and adoption of the new IALR Strategic Plan, which will guide IALR’s work and efforts for the next five years. With input from key stakeholders, the plan establishes strategic goals to outline how IALR can best capitalize on its unique strengths to impact the region. 

Just some of the new initiatives and programs launched, announced or expanded during FY 21 and FY 22:  

The Great Opportunities in Technology and Engineering Careers (GO TEC™) framework is spreading into schools across the Commonwealth. The GO TEC program is just one component of the newly developed and proven EmPOWER system – an employer-driven model to systematically connect students to careers through career awareness, exposure, and engagement and experience. Future and current members of the workforce, as well as businesses, find joint benefits in problem-solving teamships, apprenticeships, externships and internships, mock interview days and more.  

While striving to promote a diversified economy by serving a variety of industries, much of IALR’s impact in 2021-2022 was in the manufacturing sector. Expanding the existing middle-school-through-college workforce development pipelines, the new Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing (ATDM) program is a rapid adult-learner model that prepares talent for jobs in the defense industrial base. ATDM launched in 2020 and is already proving successful and showing what modern public-private partnerships should look like. In addition, IALR partnered with the Commonwealth of Virginia and Danville Regional Foundation to construct the Center for Manufacturing Advancement, a new destination for manufacturers ready to optimize and scale and home to the U.S. Navy’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence.  

Through the Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Innovation Center, a joint project with Virginia Tech, IALR has established itself as a global leader in the CEA industry. The presence of the innovative research and state-of-the-art equipment are already making an impact on Southern Virginia. Thanks to best-in-class resources, including lab spaces and staff, the Applied Research team provided 30 companies with applied research and testing services like analytical chemistry, polymer testing and more.  

In partnership with the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance (SVRA) and many other economic development organizations, IALR is proud to champion the area while working with local, regional and state partners. In FY 21 and 22, the Southern Virginia region saw $498 million in announced capital investment and 1,288 new jobs. IALR contributed to economic success by serving as a temporary home for growing businesses by providing critical testing services and lab space to innovative companies across industries. The Bridge to Recovery Program connected companies with suppliers and helped businesses become more resilient post-pandemic.  

The Institute Conference Center hosted a variety of events geared toward the growth of industry sectors and Southern Virginia, including trainings and economic development activities. Numerous companies, including anchor and growing employers held successful job fairs, connecting community members with quality employment. An extensive renovation of the main building and a relaunch of Megabytes, IALR’s on-site café, have allowed the Institute Conference Center to provide even better service for the 20,800 guests who visited.  

GO TEC Robotics Competition a Major Success

GO TEC Robotics Competition a Major Success

Approximately 58 Students from 12 middle schools across the Commonwealth participated in the 2023 GO TEC™ VEX IQ Robotics Competition at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) on April 19. After winning the qualifier rounds, the Chatham Middle School Robotics team and the Starship team from Cumberland Middle School jointly won the final alliance round.  

“Our first annual GO TEC™ VEX IQ Competition at IALR was a major success,” said Dr. Julie Brown, Vice President, Advanced Learning at IALR. “This event crystalizes GO TEC’s focus on introducing growing career sectors like robotics and automation to middle schoolers in an engaging and memorable way.” 

An action-packed competition pitted student-built VEX IQ Robots against each other in this year’s game, SlapShot. Student teams built robots meant to retrieve small pucks from dispensers and “slap” them under a bar on a 6×8 field. Teams participated in qualifier rounds for a chance to participate in the afternoon tournament, where teams from different schools entered alliances.  

More Competition Photos 

The Great Opportunities in Technology and Engineering Careers (GO TEC) team, supported by the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, facilitated the competition along with the following partners: Danville Otterbots, GO Virginia, Robotics Education and Competition Foundation, the Maritime Industrial Base Ecosystem and others, as well as school systems from the following localities: Martinsville City, Pittsylvania County, Wythe County, Halifax County, Franklin County, Grayson County and Cumberland County. Austin Scher, general manager of the Danville Otterbots, provided color commentary for the events throughout the day. Funding support was also provided by the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program through the Virginia Maritime Industrial Base Grant. 

Each of the students who participated is completing the GO TEC curriculum in their school.  

“This robotics contest encouraged students to practice teamwork and innovation, all while learning foundational skills in robotics, automation and mechatronics,” said Jacob Taylor, GO TEC Technical and Training Manager. “We are thrilled to host this event and look forward to bringing in even more teams next year.”  

This robotics contest serves as a natural complement to GO TEC, which delivers workforce training and talent development through a collaborative, hub-and-spoke model that involves K-12 school systems, higher education and industry. Starting in middle school Career Connections Labs and continuing through high school, dual enrollment, and post-secondary programs, GO TEC engages students in hands-on learning in high-demand career pathways such as precision machining, welding, IT and cybersecurity, robotics, automation and mechatronics, and advanced materials.   

Learn more about GO TEC  

Controlled Environment Agriculture Training in Middle Schools

Controlled Environment Agriculture Training in Middle Schools

“Is food manufactured?” 

The average person would say that the produce or agricultural products they buy at the store are produced, not manufactured. With the growth of the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) industry, however, more and more food and agricultural products are actually the result of high-tech manufacturing processes. Innovations in indoor agriculture – and a related need for a skilled workforce –are growing globally and right here in Virginia.  

At the request of Carroll County Public Schools, leadership of the Great Opportunities in Technology and Engineering Careers (GO TEC™) initiative developed a unique, five-week CEA module that allows middle school students to experience a full plant growth cycle. Introducing students to critical sectors like electrical engineering, quality control, automation and manufacturing engineering, the CEA module exemplifies the purpose and strategy of GO TEC: to proactively develop unique and memorable career exposure opportunities across strategic sectors.  

The CEA module is now in middle schools in Carroll and Grayson Counties with the potential to move to other localities across the Commonwealth in the near future.  

GO TEC staff consulted with CEA industry experts and conducted trials on this vertical growing rack before beginning to implement the CEA module in middle schools.

What is Controlled Environment Agriculture?  

Often referred to as indoor farming or indoor agriculture, controlled environment agriculture is a unique approach to producing food. By utilizing technology to develop the ideal growing conditions, CEA is a way to create quick-to-harvest food products. Every variable – including soil composition, light type and exposure time, nutrients, etc. – is monitored and controlled. 

There are many different styles of controlled environment agriculture, but most approaches can be classified as either hydroponics or aeroponics. With hydroponics, plant root systems live in soilless growing environments that introduce nutrients through a water-based mineral nutrient solution. Aeroponics, on the other hand, introduces nutrients through a mist. 

Located on the IALR campus, the Virginia Tech-IALR Controlled Environment Agriculture Innovation Center is a demonstration site, research hub and agricultural technology training center. The CEA Center features various hydroponic and soilless systems/production systems and facilities including indoor growth rooms, greenhouses, growth chambers and vertical growing racks. With this facility and research, the success of the first annual CEA Summit East hosted at IALR and the new GO TEC module, IALR is establishing itself as a global leader in the CEA industry.  

“IALR and Virginia Tech are making major contributions to the continued development of the controlled environment agriculture sector by combining extensive and cutting-edge research capabilities with a focus on education and industry advancement,” said Dr. Scott Lowman, Vice President, Applied Research at IALR. “This new GO TEC module about CEA technologies and processes is a smart program considering the rapid growth of the industry – and corresponding need for a talented and trained workforce.” 

Leafy greens produced in vertical growing racks in the CEA Innovation Center at IALR.

A Five-Week Module  

Through a collaborative, hub-and-spoke model that involves K-12 school systems, higher education and industry, GO TEC provides real-world workforce training and talent development. Starting in middle school Career Connections Labs and continuing through high school, dual enrollment and post-secondary programs, GO TEC engages students in hands-on learning in high-demand career pathways.  

Most of GO TEC’s other modules, which include content about industries like welding, precision machining, cybersecurity and mechatronics, are one-week introductions. The new CEA program, on the other hand, extends for five weeks.  

“The idea is that students can participate in a full growth cycle from seeding the nursery to harvest within a grading period of a class,” said Jake Taylor, Technical and Training Manager for GO TEC. “In five weeks, you can go from planting the seed to eating the salad.”  

The project starts with students placing lettuce seeds in a small nursery environment. Approximately one week later, students prepare the nutrient solution, configure the light and pump cycles and transplant the budding plants from the nursery into the growing racks. Over the next several weeks, students learn about the importance of equipment calibration while monitoring pH and electrical conductivity levels – two key indicators of plant health and growth. Depending on the goals of the instructor, students can conduct experiments for light cycle hours and nutrient solution variations – learning about quality control in the process.  

Students in the GO TEC CEA module start by planting seeds in a nursery like this one before transplanting them to the vertical growing rack.

Participants learn about agricultural technology and life sciences manufacturing while seeing the connections and technological integrations with other career sectors, each of which are represented by their own stand-alone GO TEC module. Some of those industries include:  

  • Electrical engineering 
  • Quality control inspection (metrology)   
  • Automation 
  • Manufacturing engineering 
  • Mathematics  

A growing Sector in Virginia and Beyond  

Agriculture and manufacturing remain two of the largest industry sectors in Virginia, and controlled environment agriculture combines the two. Virginia leaders have championed the controlled environment agriculture industry as a target sector, successfully recruiting multiple companies to locate in Virginia over the years. 

New Jersey-based AeroFarms now operates one of the world’s largest aeroponic smart farms in the Cane Creek Centre here in Danville-Pittsylvania County. The company credited the presence of IALR as one of the reasons it chose to locate in Southern Virginia. AeroFarms has announced plans to create 166 jobs and the capacity to produce 3 million pounds of leafy greens annually. In September 2022, it was announced that Plenty Unlimited Inc. would invest $300 million to build the world’s largest indoor vertical farming campus just outside of Richmond, creating 300 jobs. Other CEA companies are operating or growing in Virginia, combining technology with agriculture and creating quality jobs in the process.  

Virginia Secretary of Agriculture Matthew Lohr presents AeroFarms leaders a Virginia flag at the 2022 grand opening of AeroFarms’ Danville vertical farming farming facility.

While the mechanics and styles can vary from company to company, controlled environment agriculture inherently involves technology and automation – two skills that are core to the mission of GO TEC. This new CEA module exposes middle schoolers to the career possibilities – and the required skillsets – in the rapidly-growing sector, improving Virginia’s position as a destination of choice for controlled environment agriculture.  

“Southern Virginia is leading an industrial revolution as agriculture and manufacturing intersect to provide opportunities for a better tomorrow through the integration of technologies,” said Linda Green, Vice President, Economic Development at IALR and Executive Director of the Southern Virginia Regional Alliance. “By combining the best of STEM training for manufacturing with general agriculture training, this new GO TEC module is a great resource for workforce development – one that I will promote to prospective companies looking to locate in Southern Virginia.”

Growing GO TEC as a Means to Nimbly Scale Talent Pathways 

What started as a pilot program with just a few modules in two school districts, GO TEC has grown significantly – both in terms of location and programs – and has positively impacted Southern Virginia over the past five years.  

While staff have added modules for new industry sectors every year, the creation of the CEA module demonstrated the flexibility of the GO TEC framework. After the request from Carroll County Public Schools, GO TEC staff purchased equipment, conducted tests and prepared the module between March and August of 2022. Carroll County introduced the new module in the fall of 2022, and Grayson County implemented theirs in the spring of 2023.  

“This is the first example of us looking at adopting a technology, buying something, checking it out, making sure it worked, consulting with subject matter experts and then implementing it in a classroom,” said Dr. Julie Brown, Vice President of Advanced Learning at IALR.  

Backed by funding from GO Virginia and other sources, the GO TEC framework continues to move into schools across the Commonwealth. Thanks to a $3.4 million grant awarded in December 2022, GO TEC staff are being recruited in other regions of the Commonwealth and Career Connections Labs are slated to be in 50 middle schools by 2025.  As the program expands, the GO TEC team has learned to balance flexibility and structure, supporting standardization of the GO TEC pathways and middle school curriculum while allowing for some flexibility and regional “flavor” to meet the needs in each region of Virginia. The development of new trainings like the CEA module exemplifies that goal of allowing industries and regions to drive the program content and growth.  

IALR to Spearhead Expansion of GO TEC Framework across the Commonwealth with $3.4 Million GO Virginia Award

IALR to Spearhead Expansion of GO TEC Framework across the Commonwealth with $3.4 Million GO Virginia Award

In partnership with community employers, economic developers, K-12 divisions and higher education institutions, the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR) and GO Virginia Region 3 will utilize $3.4 million in recently announced GO Virginia funds to scale the Great Opportunities in Technology and Engineering Careers (GO TEC™) framework into additional localities across the Commonwealth. These funds will allow for the addition of In-Region Coordinating Entities (IRCEs) and IALR GO TEC staff in three GO Virginia regions (1,4, and 5), building the infrastructure and administrative capacity to expand the existing, proven GO TEC model.

Middle school students and an instructor look at a 3-d printer“The GO TEC framework has been incredibly successful, both as a pilot program right here in Danville and Pittsylvania County and as we have partnered with other localities across Virginia,” said Dr. Julie Brown, Vice President of Advanced Learning at IALR. “With this additional funding from GO Virginia, we will be able to support the current and anticipated expansion into dozens of K12 schools across multiple regions of the Commonwealth. I’m excited to see how GO TEC makes a positive, direct impact on the students, educational systems, economic development efforts, and overall success of these regions, just like it has in Southern Virginia.”

“GO TEC Virginia 2025 demonstrates that like-minded leaders from education, business, non-profit organizations, and government can work together to create for our students a clear pathway to high-paying jobs in their hometowns,” said Tim Clark, Chair of GO Virginia Region 3 Council. “GO Virginia Region 3 is pleased to have supported the growth of a partnership between IALR staff and Southern Virginia’s school divisions and community colleges to make GO TEC a success for our students and businesses – a partnership that will now be expanded to benefit other regions in Virginia.”

The GO TEC program is expanding into the following GO Virginia regions and localities:

  • Region 1 (Southwest Virginia): Counties of Buchanan, Carroll, Grayson and Wythe
  • Region 4 (Central Virginia): Counties of Dinwiddie, Greensville and Surry, and the cities of Colonial Heights and Hopewell and Petersburg 
  • Region 5 (Hampton Roads area): Cities of Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk and Portsmouth

GO TEC delivers workforce training and talent development through a collaborative, hub-and-spoke model that involves K-12 school systems, higher education and industry. Starting in middle school Career Connections Labs and continuing through high school, dual enrollment, and post-secondary programs, GO TEC engages students in hands-on learning in high-demand career pathways such as precision machining, welding, IT and cybersecurity, robotics and automation, mechatronics, and advanced materials. 

GO Virginia, Virginia’s initiative for growth and opportunity in each region, is an economic development initiative through the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development that supports programs to create more high-paying jobs through incentivized collaboration between business, education and government. This expansion of GO TEC is the result of $3,474,821 in GO Virginia grant funding, which was part of more than $5 million in GO Virginia grants announced by Governor Youngkin in December 2022. The state funds are matched with $2,4426,079 in local and federal funds from the partner organizations. The GO TEC program already has a strong presence in GO Virginia Region 3, including in Danville, Pittsylvania County, Martinsville City school divisions and several others.

As of spring 2023, GO TEC Labs are available in 25 middle schools across 19 school divisions. These recently awarded funds will allow the GO TEC program to expand into additional localities in the southwest, central, and Greater Hampton Roads areas of the Commonwealth. As a result of these funds, IALR anticipates that the GO TEC program will be available in 50 middle schools by 2025. 

IALR and GO Virginia Region 3 will remain the primary administrators, but these funds will allow for the creation of three additional training labs across the Commonwealth, bringing the total to four. These funds will also establish GO Virginia In-Region Coordinating Entities (IRCEs) that will partner with IALR to drive GO TEC expansion – supporting teachers, validating talent pathway opportunities, and quantifying Virginia’s return on investment in the form of job creation, job placement and private sector investment. The United Way of Southwest Virginia will serve as the IRCE in Region 1. The Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM) will serve as the IRCE in Region 4. Old Dominion University Research Foundation (ODURF) will serve as the IRCE in Region 5. 

“The Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM), with support from Virginia State University and Brightpoint Community College, are proud to be the In-Region Coordinating Entity for GO TEC Virginia 2025,” said CCAM President & CEO John Milton-Benoit. “This initiative strengthens our ties with our K-12 partners and will generate excitement for students to enter into STEM-related careers. We applaud the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research for their vision of a long-term workforce pipeline solution for advanced manufacturing companies in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

“ODU is excited to support the expansion of the successful GO TEC program into Hampton Roads to grow tech and engineering careers,” said Morris Foster, Vice President for Research at ODU. “This grant will help ODU and our partners continue to bolster the talent pipeline for the skilled trades that power our region.”

“United Way of Southwest Virginia is excited for what this funding means for our region’s workforce,” said Travis Staton, President and CEO of the United Way of Southwest Virginia. “Technology and engineering tend to produce high-paying jobs, something our area needs. GO TEC is known for creating pipelines of skilled workers to empower these industries and the United Way of Southwest Virginia is known for researching, building, and scaling programs. This is a powerful collaboration that can help our region gain a competitive edge.”

The existing program coordinator, program manager, and technical and training manager will continue operating out of IALR. Each region will have an additional training coordinator and program coordinator that will support GO TEC activities in their respective regions. These funds will not only be used to scale the program, but will develop an effective data evaluation plan and model to monitor and evaluate results.  

GO TEC began as a successful pilot program with middle school Career Connections Labs and curriculum development starting in 2018 in Danville and Pittsylvania County. With a $4.9 million GO Virginia grant in 2019, the program was expanded throughout GO Virginia Region 3 and into regions 1 and 4. 

The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research serves Virginia as a regional catalyst for economic transformation with applied research, advanced learning, advanced manufacturing, conference center services and economic development efforts. IALR’s major footprint focuses within Southern Virginia, including the counties of Patrick, Henry, Franklin, Pittsylvania, Halifax and Mecklenburg along with the cities of Martinsville and Danville. For more information, visit www.ialr.org.  

IALR Receives DoD Grant for Defense Manufacturing

IALR Receives DoD Grant for Defense Manufacturing

Virginia received a $5 million Department of Defense grant to train workers for Virginia’s defense manufacturing industries in Danville and Hampton Roads. The grant will go to the Virginia Defense Manufacturing Community, which includes IALR and Old Dominion University’s Maritime Industrial Base Ecosystem.

“Virginia is a recognized leader in defense manufacturing. This groundbreaking partnership will help diversify and modernize the nation’s best maritime workforce to build and sustain the world’s best Navy, while providing young people a pathway toward fulfilling jobs in a high-tech, well-paid industry,” said Virginia Governor Ralph Northam.

Using the funds, the Virginia Defense Manufacturing Community will create a K-12 to university training pipeline, helping students in the Danville and Norfolk areas gain the skills needed for defense manufacturing industries. The training pipeline will increase manufacturing capacity, capability, resiliency, and diversity in the maritime defense industrial base.

“We are eager to extend our advanced manufacturing training and engineering programs to advance Virginia’s maritime workforce to industry 4.0 standards and beyond,” said IALR Executive Director Mark Gignac. “We aim to deliver the strongest, most diverse and most adaptable manufacturing workforce.”

As a part of the project, the Great Opportunities in Technology and Engineering Careers (GO TEC) program, administered by IALR, will be expanded to the Hampton Roads region. The grant will be invested over federal fiscal years 2022-2023. The funding is from the (DoD) Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation, Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program.

GO TEC Talent Development Project for GO Virginia Regions 3, 1, 4 Launches New Website

GO TEC Talent Development Project for GO Virginia Regions 3, 1, 4 Launches New Website

The Great Opportunities in Technology and Engineering Careers (GO TEC) staff and advisory board have launched a new website, www.gotecva.org, for the GO TEC talent development project supported by GO Virginia for Regions 3, 1 and 4.

The website features the GO TEC name and brand developed earlier in the year. It also includes information, news and resources for the hub-and-spoke talent development model that aims to create a sustainable pipeline of skilled workers strategic focus areas, including advanced materials; IT/cybersecurity; precision machining; robotics, automation and mechatronics; and welding.  The development process was completed with the input of students, educators, industry, economic developers and GO TEC Advisory Board members and was coordinated by the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, fiscal agent. Website feedback continues to be invited via an online survey accessible at the site; responses will be assessed to continue to improve the website experience and add further content.

“It is with great anticipation that we announce the new GO TEC website, gotecva.org, our information hub for program information moving forward,” said Dr. Tammy Hurt, GO TEC Program Manager. “The website and other communication efforts will help us amplify our cause and important milestones, which are vital to successfully growing our program.”

In June 2020, the GO Virginia State Board approved $3.6 million, the full remaining Phase 2 funding for GO TEC, based on successful outcomes of Phase 1. The GO Virginia grant will be supplemented by funding from other public and private sources. In March 2019, GO TEC received the largest grant to date from the GO Virginia competitive funding pool. The GO Virginia State Board approved an investment of up to $4.9 million, which will be matched 1-to-1 by support from more than 17 local partners.

GO TEC extended the pipeline to about 1,414 students of the following six participating middle schools during the 2019-2020 school year:  Chatham and Gretna Middle Schools in Pittsylvania County, O.T. Bonner and Westwood Middle Schools in Danville, Cumberland (County) Middle School and Price Edward (County) Middle School. During the 2020-2021 school year, the following 11 additional middle schools will join the GO TEC training program and partnership:  Dan River and Tunstall Middle Schools in Pittsylvania County, James S. Russell Middle School in Brunswick County, E.W. Wyatt Middle School in Greensville County, Halifax (County) Middle School, Laurel Park Middle School in Henry County, Lunenburg (County) Middle School, Martinsville Middle School, Bluestone Middle School in Mecklenburg County, Nottoway (County) Middle School and Patrick County High. Dual enrollment programs with GO TEC higher education partners continue to expand in high schools across the region. These higher education partners are also experiencing growth in their GO TEC-related, on-campus programs in areas such as welding, precision machining, IT, mechatronics and more. They include:  Danville Community College, the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in Danville, New College Institute and Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville, the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center in South Boston, Southside Virginia Community College in Charlotte and Brunswick Counties and Wytheville Community College.    

Great Opportunities in Technology and Engineering Careers (GO TEC) delivers workforce training and talent development through a collaborative, hub-and-spoke model that involves K-12 school systems, higher education and industry. It targets in-demand career pathways identified across Southern and Southwest Virginia like IT/cybersecurity; robotics, automation and mechatronics; precision machining; welding; and advanced materials. Participating GO Virginia Regions include 1, 3 and 4, an area that encompasses many of Virginia’s rural counties stretching from Wythe County to Greensville County. For more information, visit www.gotecva.org.