Aila Boyd
aboyd@mainstreetnewspapers.com
The first Talent Summit, an event open to those in government, higher education, business, human resources and marketing, was held on Thursday, March 7 in the Cregger Center by Roanoke College and a group of community partner organizations.
The inaugural gathering was held with the goal of brining leaders together to align the efforts of employers, higher education, governments, workforce and economic development to develop talent from within, form meaningful connections with students and attract top-tier talent to employers in the region, according to the college.
“We must develop the talent right here among us and sustain the environment, community and economy that makes this region a great place to live,” Frank Shushok, president of Roanoke College, said. “And we have to recruit and entice new talent. It’s not one or the other, it’s both. All evidence suggests that the communities that get this right know and embrace that it takes an organized, interconnected, community-minded village that knows instinctively that we rise and fall together.”
Funding for the summit was provided through GO VIRGINIA. In addition to Roanoke College, the following partners assisted in hosting the summit: Roanoke Regional Partnership, Get2KnowNoke, Greater Roanoke Workforce Development Board, Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council, Onward NRV, Virginia Talent + Opportunity Partnership and New River/Mount Rogers Workforce Development Board.
Kirk Cox, a former speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates and current president of the Virginia Business Higher Education Council, gave the keynote address.
The summit also included a panel of higher education leaders from colleges and universities across the region. Lunch-and-learn sessions covered topics such as employer success stories, communications best practices and building partnerships. The sessions, organizers said, provided professionals with practical knowledge that they can implement within their organizations to effect change and develop meaningful talent-attraction pipelines.
“While the Roanoke region is ahead of many localities when it comes to talent attraction, student awareness of our region’s employers is still a big challenge for us,” Julia Boas, director of talent strategies at the Roanoke Regional Partnership, said. “We don’t want to be known as a place that exports all its top talent. We want to be known as a place where you can get a world-class education, find a great paid internship, fall in love with the beauty and vibrancy of Virginia’s Blue Ridge and stay for a great job.”
Organizers said future summits are expected to rotate locations throughout the Roanoke Valley and New River Valley with the goal of highlighting higher education institutions in the area.
