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Northrop Grumman trying to create
pipeline of workers in Southwest Virginia
by Garry Kranz
for Virginia Business
April 2007
Northrop Grumman Corp. is extending its IT reach into bucolic Southwest Virginia. In tandem with the Virginia Coalfields Economic Development Authority, the conglomerate is providing $1 million for a new software-engineering program at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise.
The college will use the grant to buy technology equipment and hire up to six faculty members for the program. Besides coursework, the curricula will include internship opportunities for students to work with Northrop Grumman engineers. That would move the computer program beyond theoretical approaches to problem-solving. “We envision junior and senior [student] projects in which students help to solve real business problems,” says U.Va. Wise Chancellor David Prior.
The investment gives Northrop Grumman the chance to nurture a potential pipeline of workers, which is critical to its planned operations in Russell County. Northrop Grumman expects to generate 430 high-paying jobs as it revamps the computer technologies used by Virginia’s state agencies.
It isn’t only Northrop Grumman that benefits, however. Being able to produce a steady stream of computer experts is vital to an economic renaissance taking place in Southwest Virginia. In addition to Northrop Grumman, CGI Inc. is building a software engineering complex in Lebanon to employ up to 300 people. Jim Gillespie, the administrator for Russell County, expects the Northrop Grumman and CGI projects to spawn clusters of supporting industries. “We want to make sure these companies are successes here by having an adequate work force and training,” he says.
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