Henrico CTE Now (Career & Technical Education)

In this episode, we talk with Courtney Baker, Director of Workforce Training with Associated General Contractors, and Taylor Brannon, Executive Vice President of F. Richard Wilton Contractor. Our discussion covered everything from the importance of Career and Technical Education for companies that hire trade specialists, managers, supervisors, engineers, and all the support staff needed to operate all types of contracting companies. A large part of the discussion is the need for high school and college graduates for their industries and how students can prepare for their future careers by attending Career and Technical Education programs while in middle and high school.

First off, our podcast has been absent for a few weeks. Reshawn, my co-host and friend has moved to work in the private sector. He made this podcast what it is today. I have some big shoes to grow into and I will miss him. Good luck Reshawn!

Jason Gill and Jeff Lewis talk to us about their career paths leading up to their involvement in the fire suppression and prevention industry, working with our students at our Adult Education Center, and the career fair they recently hosted with our students.

In our latest episode Jeffery Grow, Maintenance Control Supervisor with Henrico County Schools talks to us about his varied career path that started with photography, and the importance of the real-world education that occurs in CTE programs.

Today we talked with Connor Gentle and Sam Tignor, former ACE student in Precision Machinery, with Clark Construction, about careers in construction and the need for young people to decide to make lucrative and important careers in the construction industry. 

President of B&S Development, Anthony Forest, talks about his career path that took him from college to starting his own construction company in the middle of COVID.

Judy Frank is the Director of State and District Partnerships with the Southern Regional Education Board. SREB is a non-profit non-partisan that works with states to form sound education policies and work to transform teaching to help students be prepared after school. Please listen and learn about Judy Frank’s career path from teacher to where she is today with SREB and what they are doing for Virginia schools.

In this episode, we speak with Stephan Corbin and his mother Candace Wilkerson. A few months ago, with the help of Mac Beaton, Director of Workforce and Career Development, Stephan was able to have an interview with Colonial Web. Colonial Web is an installation, maintenance, and service of building mechanical and electrical systems or what is sometimes called an HVAC company. We speak with Stephan and Candace about how Stephan's life has changed since starting his career at Colonial Web. When Stephan was going to his local high school, they did not offer career and technical education programs to students. Listen to this podcast and discover how many of today's businesses, even without training from a CTE program, will train individuals to start lucrative careers. Having the benefit of experiencing a CTE program while in high school is preferred, and businesses will hire and continue the training necessary to become an expert in a trade but are willing to hire and train anyone with the drive to succeed. This is Stephan Corbin's story.

Mac Beaton Director of Workforce & Career Development (CTE), Beverly Cocke , Workforce & Career Development Career Specialist, Susan Moore Director of Public Facilities for Henrico County. In this episode, we discuss the expansion of the 3 ACE Centers, their new programs, and the new Adult Education Center at Regency Square Mall that is being built now.

Dave and Ali Ogburn talk with us about their career path to becoming engineers at Goodyear Tires. Both of them, while in college, got a lot of experience in a motorsports program at UVA while they studied to become engineers. They both worked for racing teams early on and while Dave is a Performance Test Driver at Goodyear, Ali is a Senior Engineer at Goodyear. They have a remarkable story about the years of experiences that led them to both be working at Goodyear Tires at their facility in Texas. Don't miss this episode.

In this episode, we talk with Brenda and Nellie about the wonderful world of nursing as a career. This is a great exploration of the wide variety of nursing careers and how St. Marys Hospital helps its nurses to grow by funding their education to advance their nursing career.

https://www.smha.org/

In this episode, we talk with the President of F. Richard Wilton Contractors, Scott Brannan, and Vice President Taylor Brannon. They discuss the history of their company and how important CTE is to companies like Richard Wilton Contactor. Scott and Taylor discuss their involvement in our Regency Mall Adult Education project and the need for young people to become involved in the construction trades and how Henrico CTE offers a start in the careers involved in the construction trades.

In our latest episode, we are covering the Life Ready Expo where over 150 businesses gathered to talk to 6th graders through 12th graders about how to prepare for their chosen careers. We interviewed parents and students on the night of the event to discuss how the event was helping them. Have a listen. 

Our latest guest, Hosea Fitten, Program Manager for Workforce & Development for Newport News Shipbuilding talked with us about the many lucrative careers available at NNS! They are looking for welders and pipefitters and even admin staff such as IT, finance and more with all working to do their part to keep our country safe by building ships and more for our military. Have a listen and get informed about the too many careers to count available at NNS.

In this episode, we talk with the Director of Public Relations for Henrico County about students wanting to get into the media business. With his media experience, he talks about many different career paths in the media business and how he has progressed over the years to where he is today. Two things he talked about were Henrico Counties' internship programs and the current need for people in Henrico's 911 communications officer positions. 

We had a great guest for you this week! Steven Yob, Deputy County Manager for Community Operations for Henrico County. He talks with us about his career path from an early age that brought him to pursue engineering and eventually end up with Henrico County. He explains why engineering and the trades are an important part of how civilization is maintained today. Engineering is an integral partnership with many trades career paths. Both can be explored with one of our many ACE Center programs and comprehensive classes available to middle and high school students.

Across the country school systems are having to deal with a severe teacher shortage. In this episode of Henrico CTE Now we talk with Kenya Jackson, Talent Acquisition Ambassador for Henrico County Schools. She discusses with us the problem that is affecting Henrico and many school systems in Virginia and what Henrico County is doing about it.

Henrico Workforce & Career Development has programs to help educate our future educators. Check out these links for more info if you want to be a teacher.

Jeff Covington is the owner of Synergy Technical Services and we talked with him about his company and how he believes that CTE programs are an essential tool in encouraging young people to consider lucrative trade careers.

Ryan Beck visited us in the studio and talked about his welding career. Ryan is the welder for Henrico County Public Schools and his skills are in high demand. Listen to this interesting podcast and learn about the highly lucrative careers in the welding field.

In this episode, we talk with David Mullsteff, CEO/Owner of Tactical Deployment Systems and Cables Plus, both custom copper and fiber cable manufacturing companies. David is a high school graduate who after working for other cable manufacturing companies in his youth, decided to start his own company and ended up starting two. He talks about how career and technical education is important to companies like his and how his company has been affected, like many other companies, by our current demand for workers in many industries. 

In this episode, we spoke with Matthew Haltiner COO, and Keith Dignan Vice President of Thompson Consulting Engineers. Their company specializes in designing schools and other types of long-life structures. Their services include mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire engineering as well as construction administration and building systems commissioning. Matthew is a high school grad and Keith went to Pen State to become an engineer. We talked about the importance of a CTE education and early career exposure. Listen in for a great conversation about their career paths and why their company, and many others, are looking for young people right out of high school to come and work for their company and others.

In this episode, we visit Bob Beckwith who is one of the owners of Cavalier Fire Protection. He talks with us about how his company is always looking for young people to start with their company and the importance of having a CTE education when starting with Cavalier. They are committed to working with new hires by providing all the available training someone will need to start with the company as well as growing their careers in a great industry that helps keep people safe. If you are college-bound or looking to work right out of high school, Cavalier would be a great company to begin your career with.

Today, Jennifer Boyle talks to us about the work of Junior Achievement, financial literacy and the importance of career exposure, and how JA helps students in Central Virginia with all this and more. We also talked with Adrienne Minock as she describes how Henrico libraries are great resources about area employers, professional resume help, and many other services for Henrico residents. Both also talk about their support for Henrico CTE’s Signing Day which will be returning to JA/Libbie Library location in May and why they think Signing Day is such an important event for students.

In this episode we have Brian Dail, he talks with us about his career path from a CTE program to graduating from a Henrico high school and working for a few machine shops including the machine shop at Rolls Royce to now working for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. For years now he has been working to bring businesses from all over the world to start operations in Virginia. This is what a Henrico CTE Education looks like.

500 ACE Center students showcased their skills to 750 middle schoolers and 250 business and community partners during the 2022 Career Rodeo. Join Reshawn Garnett as he recaps this year's event. Listen to soundbites from various businesses in attendance, as they discuss their industry needs. The Career Rodeo allows students to showcase their skills to our business and community partners. 400 student resumes from this year's rodeo were requested by industry professionals.

In today's podcast, we chatted with Tyson Dickson, Jr., Talent Acquisition Partner, Noel Travis, Safety Manager, and Eric Walters, Area Manager, and they are with Southeast Connections. Southeast Connections, provides a full array of services including pipeline and station construction, maintenance, and emergency response. They talk to us about the gas pipeline industry and the high-paying and challenging careers with their company. They are very supportive of Henrico Career & Technical Education and our talented students.

During CTE Month we had an important guest and Henrico CTE partner, Dennis Bickmiere, President of Richmond Raceway. Dennis oversees two NASCAR races a year and untold expos, events, shows, and concerts each year at his facility. Dennis is aware of the importance of a CTE education and talks with us about opportunities with his company for young people and why CTE helps bring soft skills with the hands-on skills our courses offer. We talk about his path to becoming the President of Richmond Raceway and our upcoming Career Rodeo.

In this episode, we are talking to Tyler Butterworth, ACT Field Superintendent, and Nathan Blinn VP of Construction & Strategic Innovation, Eagle Construction of VA Principal Researcher. They talk with us about some exciting new technologies in the construction industry and the impact of attracting young people to the industry.  All aspects of the trades industry are looking to attract students to their companies and Eagle Construction is no different. Tyler, Glen Allen High School grad, and Nathen talk to us about their career paths and why CTE is such an important educational tool for students today.

We are starting off 2022 with a great episode of Henrico CTE Now. We were able to meet four individuals with Trane Technologies. Now if you were like me, I thought Trane was just an HVAC company. You will find out why they are so much more. Many students today say, when it comes to their careers, they want to do something important. They want to do something to help the planet and the environment. If that’s you then you are going to want to hear what George Barnes, Matt Senters, Ethan Graham, Holland Bressler have to say about Trane Technologies! What is the Gigaton Challenge? It’s going to blow your mind. Find out why a career with Trane could be exactly what you are looking for. Have a listen.

George Barnes, Complex Solutions Account Manager Southern Atlantic Region

Ethan Graham, Senior Services Sales Manager

Matt Senters, Service Manager

Holland Bressler, Intern, future employee, and recent VCU Engineering Graduate

In the first episode of our 4th season, we interview Marrie Vargas and Emma Crider, ACE Center EMT graduates who have started a CPR program for Henrico County. It's a great ACE Center Success Story you are going to want to hear about.

Have a listen to some clips of our best guests and interviews of 2021. 

In our latest podcast, we meet Devon Gallagher, Nuclear Engineer with Dominion Power! She talks with us about her attending Freeman High School and her days as a CTE student in our former electronics class years ago as well as what she feels about the importance of a CTE education for students today.

In our latest episode, Reshawn and I are at this year's College and Career Night at Henrico High School. Students and parents get to meet with college recruiters and local businesses to prepare students for life after high school. Reshawn interviews several area businesses while I talk to parents and students about the many opportunities Henrico Career & Technical Education offers to get students college and career ready. The businesses that Reshawn interviews talk about everything from internships to full-time jobs offered to our CTE students. Parents and students should listen to discover examples of just a few of the opportunities available from local businesses offered to CTE students.

The Life Ready Expo was held on the evening of October 19th, 2021, and was attended by 86 businesses. Over 2000 students and parents came to talk to business representatives at the event. They explored varied careers and listened to advice from the businesses on how students could prepare for their future careers. We interviewed students and parents who attended the event to get their thoughts on the expo and why they thought it was important to be there. After last year's virtual event it was great hearing from everybody face to face and listening to their thoughts. Our conversations with these students and parents revealed some amazing insights on the expo and what is in store for the future of these students!

In today’s episode, we have an exciting conversation with Charles Tilley and Allison Powel with the architectural firm Quinn Evans. It is exciting for two reasons. One because they are working on the expansion of our two ACE Centers and about the field of architecture. Join us as we learn about the exciting career path of an architect and about what is going to happen to our two ACE Centers over the next couple of years.