By Amir Vera, The Progress-Index
PRINCE GEORGE — Del. Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, was honored Thursday for his efforts to bring a chain of apprentice academies to the Southern region of the state.
The board of directors of both the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing, or CCAM, and the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Logistics Systems, or CCALS, recognized Cox yesterday for his efforts last year in securing a $25 million budget amendment that committed initial funds for an Apprentice Academy in Prince George County. According to a CCAM press release, the academy is designed to help Virginians obtain the skills advanced manufacturers and their logistics systems need to stay competitive in the global marketplace.
“It’ll mean a lot of jobs to this area. It’ll also call for four Centers of Excellence throughout Southside and Southwest Virginia. They’ll help train everything from welders to other certifications, so it’ll help that whole corridor,” Cox said. “We have Rolls Royce, CCAM and CCALS here so this has become a center of innovation. If you just look at Prince George and the local area, we’ve got a training workforce that can fill some of those jobs not only for Rolls Royce but a lot of the other partners who are in CCAM and CCALS.”