Our Mission
Great Opportunities in Technology and Engineering Careers (GO TEC) will stimulate job growth within the Commonwealth by creating dependable talent pipelines in strategic sectors, fostered through public and private partnerships.
Great Opportunities in Technology and Engineering Careers (GO TEC) will stimulate job growth within the Commonwealth by creating dependable talent pipelines in strategic sectors, fostered through public and private partnerships.
Advanced Materials
IT/Cybersecurity
Precision Machining
Robotics, Automation and Mechatronics
Welding
GO TEC is a collaborative project that aims to develop the regional workforce in order to meet changing industry demands. The program begins to engage with the student at the middle school level and continues through high school dual enrollment and post-secondary programs. The focus of the project is to further develop the sectors of IT, advanced manufacturing and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) by creating a talent pipeline that begins in K-12.
GO TEC uses a hub-and-spoke model to progressively generate the desired robust talent pipeline across Southern and Southwest Virginia. Middle schoolers are introduced early to the occupations and base skill training in Career Connections Labs, an example of a spoke. They are then connected in high school to expanded career and technical courses, industry certification programs and dual-enrollment training opportunities with higher education partners. Finally, they may progress to advanced level training at a hub educational provider.
To achieve this, five targeted, in-demand career pathways have been identified. Program goals and curriculum are led by GO TEC staff with the support and guidance of a 21-member GO TEC Advisory Board comprised of businesses, K-12 and higher education—all with equal representation.
The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, which oversees the GO Virginia program, the leading funding partner of GO TEC, recently won the Governor’s Honor Award for the workforce development accomplishments of GO TEC.
GO TEC has received the largest grant award to date—$4.9 million—from the GO Virginia Competitive Funding pool. The grant will fund Phase 2 of the program, which will include not only GO Virginia’s Region 3 but also Region 1 and eventually Region 4. This area encompasses many of Virginia’s rural southern counties, stretching from Wythe County to Greensville County. The funding will be matched 1-to-1 by support from more than 17 local partners.
Phase 1 of this multi-phase project culminated in the successful pilot of new middle school Career Connections Labs and curriculum development in the Danville-Pittsylvania County area. Phase 2 replicates that model by scaling to eventually establish 17 middle school Career Connection Labs throughout Regions 1, 3, and 4. Also, as part of Phase 2, a GO TEC Program Manager, GO TEC Training Coordinator, Multimedia Technician, and Program Assistant was hired.