WISE, VA – MAY 2, 2025 — An up to $129,080 grant to the Appalachian Council for Innovation from the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority (VCEDA) Coalfield Workforce Development and Training Fund to be used to implement a Simulated Workforce pilot program in the Southwest Virginia’s VCEDA region was closed recently.
The funds will be used specifically for costs and expenses of implementing the pilot program with the Wise County Public Schools Career and Technical Education Center.
The Appalachian Council for Innovation (“ACI”) is a 501(c)(6) non-profit Virginia corporation which is a membership organization that leads Southwestern Virginians in addressing technology issues of business, education and government with the purpose of enhancing the vitality and social well-being of Southwestern Virginia. ACI was formerly known as the Southwest Virginia Technology Council, and completed its formal name change to the Appalachian Council for Innovation in May 2021.
“The Simulated Workforce program was developed in response to the findings ACI documented through its Business Continuity and Resiliency project and its Talent Pathways Initiative,” said VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher. “Both projects identified the need to mitigate workforce and labor concerns held by businesses and gaps between educators and manufacturers related to what the manufacturers are needing out of their entry level workforce, versus what they were seeing in employment candidates.
“ACI would like to build upon these two projects by implementing a ‘Simulated Workforce’ pilot program in at least two school systems in Southwest Virginia,” Belcher added, noting Dickenson County Public Schools already has a Simulated Workforce program up and running and will be an advisor to ACI on the pilot project.
The Simulated Workforce model was pioneered by the West Virginia School System and ACI plans to include the West Virginia School System in an advisory role. ACI explained the Simulated Workforce model is not a curriculum, but a learning environment shift. It places students in simulated workplace company settings which simulate a workplace or job site, rather than a traditional classroom. Instructors and administrators take ownership of the initiative and create workplace replicated environments based upon their expertise within the fields as well as past experiences in industry. Students help lead the instruction in this setting, creating a “student-led culture” which emphasizes each student’s interests, capabilities and learning styles and places the instructor as more of a facilitator of the learning. Classrooms are transformed into workplace companies and the student-led companies promote student leadership and engagement. It also gives students the opportunity to develop critical thinking skills by identifying work-related issues and providing solutions. Contributing partners — such as area companies — support the initiative through industry tours, job shadowing, classroom presentations, job fairs and ultimately, employment.
Phase 1 of ACI’s Simulated Workforce proposal will implement the program in Wise County. Phase 2 will expand it into another school system in the VCEDA Region, which would then result in three school systems in the region implementing Simulated Workforce, counting Dickenson County which has already implemented it.
“The funding that the Appalachian Council for Innovation has received from VCEDA for the Simulated Workplace Pilot Project is crucial to transforming our region and providing a more ‘Work-Ready’ workforce for employers,” said ACI Executive Director John Bebber. “Launching this initial phase of a much larger project would not be possible without VCEDA.”
About Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority and Southwest Virginia’s e-Region: The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1988 to enhance and diversify the region’s economy and help create jobs, markets Southwest Virginia’s e-Region and its focus on electronic information technology, energy, education, emerging technologies, and entrepreneurship. VCEDA is a unique economic development organization that manages funds for economic development projects from a percentage of the coal and natural gas severance taxes paid by coal and natural gas companies that operate in the region. Located in southwestern Virginia, the region includes Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Tazewell, and Wise counties and the City of Norton. www.vceda.us or www.e-Region.org.