2022 WORKFORCE
INNOVATION AWARDS
Thursday, September 29, 2022
The Landing at Hampton Marina
Congratulations to our 2022 Workforce Innovation Award Honorees!
Community-based Organization
The Hive is the result of a successful collaboration among the City of Virginia Beach, academic institutions, small business associations, and other entrepreneurial-related organizations in Virginia Beach and beyond.
Established in August 2021, the Hive focuses on offering its community the opportunity to grow and scale early-stage businesses by acting as a knowledge hub, providing useful resources, and connecting like-minded individuals in the city and the region to help businesses flourish.
Communities In Schools of Hampton Roads launched November 2012 and works to provide Integrated Student Support (ISS) services to disenfranchised students attending under- resourced schools in six Virginia cities; Chesapeake, Norfolk, Suffolk, Portsmouth, Hampton, and Virginia Beach. The organization partners with 20 schools and serves over 13,000 students annually — providing nonacademic student supports that remove barriers to learning and achievement.
Business
A Veteran owned small business, Fairlead designs, builds, and qualifies military-grade electro-mechanical products for subsystem integration for shipboard applications. We repair, maintain, and upgrade ships, boats, and other watercraft. Fairlead fabricates, assembles, and preserves large structures in support of Aircraft Carrier and Submarine construction. Fairlead is also the U.S. manufacturer of Rafnar boats with revolutionary hull-and-keel technology, representing military, leisure, search and rescue, and (future) unmanned markets.
Education
An entity of Hampton University, the Virginia Workforce Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (VWEIC) was established in October 2020 through the Department of Education Reimagine Workforce Preparation Grant. Operating on the behalf of the Virginia Board of Workforce Development, VWEIC works to expand the capability and capacity of Virginia’s current and aspiring entrepreneurs to aid with economic recovery in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Workforce Champion
Mayor Shannon Glover
City of Portsmouth
Shannon Glover was elected to the Portsmouth city council in 2017 as city councilman, and in 2020 elected mayor — where he will serve until 2024. He served in the United States navy from 1988-1994 and previously worked at the Portsmouth naval medical center after graduating from the naval school of health sciences.
Mayor Glover currently owns and operates Commonwealth Employee Benefits Solutions, inc., a small business based in Portsmouth that provides human resources consulting for companies. He is active in the community and serves on several boards and committees – including the Hampton Roads Military & amp; Federal Facilities Alliance (HRMFFA), Hampton Roads Transit (HRT), Hampton roads planning district commission (HRPDC), and one that we know is personal favorite – the Hampton Roads Workforce Council. He is also a proud graduate of Norfolk State University – go Spartans!
Mayor Glover has been a longtime supporter and advocate for regional workforce development efforts through his time, talents, and contributions; and he has prioritized creating career pathways for our emerging workforce. He is a connector and always looking for opportunities to help establish partnerships to help job seekers – especially our youth. It’s important to note
That Mayor Glover is also a co-founder of the NextGen Regional Internship Program and is never shy about reaching out to Shawn Avery or Christina Brooks – weekly even – with an idea, new partner suggestion, or a request to help a job seeker or employer in his city.
Thank You to all of our 2022 Sponsors
