亚洲AV

Mason officials meet with Virginia Secretary of Labor to discuss business partnerships

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Liza Wilson Durant (left),聽the associate provost for strategic initiatives and community engagement at Mason and director of the Northern Virginia Node of the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI), gives a tour of the聽future home of the Institute for Digital InnovAtion (IDIA) and Mason鈥檚 School of Computing to Virginia Sec. of Labor Megan Healy (center). Dietra Trent,聽special advisor to Mason President Gregory Washington, listens. Photo by Ron Aira/Creative Services

亚洲AV President聽聽and other school officials met on the Arlington Campus with Virginia Secretary of Labor Megan Healy on Tuesday with the aim of fostering a closer relationship between the university and the local business community.

The meeting, which followed a walking tour of the construction site that will soon be transformed into a hub for the Innovation District in Arlington and the Innovation Pilot Space in Vernon Smith Hall, focused on ways that Mason could strategically fill the growing need for tech talent in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

Much of the discussion centered on聽ways in which Mason could help fill that gap聽by聽meeting the聽specific skill聽needs of local companies. Virginia ranks as the nation鈥檚 top聽net聽producer聽of tech talent, but many young聽local college聽graduates聽continue to move away for their first jobs because they lack聽the requisite number of years of聽experience companies are seeking.

鈥淢ason offers so many programs to support the workforce that the [business community] just does not know about,鈥 Washington said, 鈥渟o they are not taking advantage of the programs to support their hiring needs.鈥

Mason President Gregory Washington (left) and Virginia Sec. of Labor Megan Healy discuss ways to better relationships with business partners. Photo by Ron Aira/Creative Services

Healy, whose primary role is to work closely with the state鈥檚 labor and business communities to identify and fill vacant jobs聽in high-demand sectors, said it was聽great to meet with Mason officials to discuss hiring challenges and talent development.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important to make sure the connection between the business community and Mason is there, and we develop better partnerships,鈥 Healy said.

, the associate provost for strategic initiatives and community engagement at Mason and director of the Northern Virginia Node of the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI), took Healy on a tour of the future home of the聽聽(IDIA) and Mason鈥檚 School of Computing. Expected to open in 2025, the 360,000-square-foot building will house more than 1,200 faculty, students, entrepreneurs, technologists and business leaders from the public and private sectors.

Wilson聽Durant said she welcomed the opportunity聽to聽share the details聽about the聽innovative聽changes ahead for the Arlington Campus.

鈥淚t was a great opportunity to connect with the Secretary of Labor and get her perspective on what we鈥檙e doing, on our strategy for workforce development and commercialization of technologies, and ensuring that we鈥檙e meeting the commonwealth鈥檚 needs,鈥 Wilson Durant said.

Others university and community leaders in attendance included Dietra Trent, special advisor to President Washington; Aneesh Chopra, president of聽CareJourney聽and chair of the President鈥檚 Innovation Advisory Council; Marc Austin, executive director of Mason鈥檚 Continuing and Professional Education; Lauren Bird, Mason鈥檚 director of University Priorities; and Brian聽Naumick, the vice president of Edgemoor Infrastructure and Real Estate.

罢丑别听聽are part of a $250 million transformation that will serve as a catalyst in the further development of Arlington鈥檚 Rosslyn-Ballston corridor into a dynamic and growing innovation district with a thriving high-tech ecosystem.聽