Cybersecurity Training Coming To BRCC
June 14, 2018
High-Flier
By VIC BRADSHAW
Daily News-Record 6/14/18
HARRISONBURG — Blue Ridge Community College has received $250,000 from state and local coffers to launch a new noncredit program aimed at helping train people to be entry-level cybersecurity analysts.
Del. Steve Landes, R-Weyers Cave, announced Tuesday afternoon that the school will get $200,000 in GO Virginia funding to create its Cyber Security Workforce Development and Jobs Program. The cities of Harrisonburg and Waynesboro are contributing $25,000 toward the effort.
The program’s aim is to get at least 50 people jobs as Tier I cybersecurity analysts within two years, said Marlena Jarboe, BRCC’s dean of academic affairs. With the grant funding and other in-kind contributions, the college will offer classes, training and services for $300 that normally would cost $1,300 to $1,400.
Blue Ridge President John Downey said the program should produce analysts able to help many businesses in the area.
“I think almost every business now has to be aware of and address cybersecurity in some way,” he said. “I think what this will mean for the region is a greater number of trained, skilled technicians that can help local companies be prepared with cybersecurity. That’s the big win for the region, I think.”
Landes, a member of the Virginia Growth and Opportunity Board (GO Virginia), voted to approve the allocation requested by the Region 8 board of directors.
“There is certainly a growing need for cybersecurity professionals,” he said in a news release, “and this funding will benefit BRCC and the thriving industries in the Valley by addressing the statewide shortage for jobs in cybersecurity and related industries.”
July Or August Start
Jarboe, the primary author of the grant request, said the program will provide students with the training necessary to pass the CompTIA Security+ exam to earn a credential in cybersecurity.
Tier I analysts make an average of $53,641 annually.
At least four organizations in the region, including Harrisonburg’s Chiedo Labs and
Convergent AI, wrote letters supporting the initiative and saying they have trouble finding the technicians they need, she said.
Blue Ridge will recruit students from its campus, other local colleges, area technical centers, veterans and others to enter the program, said Jarboe. The focus initially will be on finding people with some cybersecurity background.
She said the program is expected to take about three months and includes on-the job training, transportation to the nearest certification exam, payment of the exam fee, and five-month access to the cybersecurity training website Cybrary. Successful students will be encouraged to continue their education to advance in the industry.
The Weyers Cave community college, Jarboe said, hopes to have the program operational by late July or early August and will try to recruit 15 to 20 students for its first class.
It could serve as a pilot program that could be replicated in other regions, she added.
Blue Ridge will provide $54,000 in in-kind services to the program, and private partner Innovate Tech Ventures is providing a $40,000 in-kind match, according to Brian Shull, Harrisonburg’s economic development director. The Herndon-based company that seeks ways to commercialize university research will lead the on-the job training at offices in Harrisonburg and Waynesboro.
Innovate Tech will help with job placement, too, said Jarboe.
Diversification Desired
Harrisonburg supported the program financially, Shull said, because the city wants to attract cybersecurity companies.
“We’re very excited in Harrisonburg because we’ve been targeting information technology and information security for well over five years now,” he said, “and we recognize that we need to have that talent pipeline ready to fill jobs when they come available. This will certainly help provide that talent pipeline.”
If the program produces at least 50 technicians earning at the average salary for the field, Shull said the city will have received “very strong return on our investment.”
Carrie Chenery, executive director of the Shenandoah Valley Partnership, which helps staff the GO Virginia Region 8 board, said this is the second grant the region has received. It previously received funding for advanced manufacturing training in the Rockbridge County area.
GO Virginia, a new public- private program designed to encourage regional economic development collaboration, is focused on diversifying local economies, she said.
“Having this program focused on building a steady pipeline of cybersecurity workers in our region,” said Chenery, “allows for us to focus on diversifying our industry sectors going forward.”
The program, she said, also will allow Blue Ridge to add to its information technology advisory committee to help the college better serve the workforce needs of current and future companies in the Valley.
Jarboe said local residents should be benefactors of the program, too.
“I think the biggest statement is this program,” she said, “is going to give an ability for people to get high-paying jobs without having to move out of their home region to the high-cost metropolitan areas.”
Blake Somers, 15, of Harrisonburg, skates at Westover Park on Wednesday. Temperatures will remain warm today with highs around 82.
By VIC BRADSHAW
Daily News-Record 6/14/18
HARRISONBURG — Blue Ridge Community College has received $250,000 from state and local coffers to launch a new noncredit program aimed at helping train people to be entry-level cybersecurity analysts.
Del. Steve Landes, R-Weyers Cave, announced Tuesday afternoon that the school will get $200,000 in GO Virginia funding to create its Cyber Security Workforce Development and Jobs Program. The cities of Harrisonburg and Waynesboro are contributing $25,000 toward the effort.
The program’s aim is to get at least 50 people jobs as Tier I cybersecurity analysts within two years, said Marlena Jarboe, BRCC’s dean of academic affairs. With the grant funding and other in-kind contributions, the college will offer classes, training and services for $300 that normally would cost $1,300 to $1,400.
Blue Ridge President John Downey said the program should produce analysts able to help many businesses in the area.
“I think almost every business now has to be aware of and address cybersecurity in some way,” he said. “I think what this will mean for the region is a greater number of trained, skilled technicians that can help local companies be prepared with cybersecurity. That’s the big win for the region, I think.”
Landes, a member of the Virginia Growth and Opportunity Board (GO Virginia), voted to approve the allocation requested by the Region 8 board of directors.
“There is certainly a growing need for cybersecurity professionals,” he said in a news release, “and this funding will benefit BRCC and the thriving industries in the Valley by addressing the statewide shortage for jobs in cybersecurity and related industries.”
July Or August Start
Jarboe, the primary author of the grant request, said the program will provide students with the training necessary to pass the CompTIA Security+ exam to earn a credential in cybersecurity.
Tier I analysts make an average of $53,641 annually.
At least four organizations in the region, including Harrisonburg’s Chiedo Labs and
Convergent AI, wrote letters supporting the initiative and saying they have trouble finding the technicians they need, she said.
Blue Ridge will recruit students from its campus, other local colleges, area technical centers, veterans and others to enter the program, said Jarboe. The focus initially will be on finding people with some cybersecurity background.
She said the program is expected to take about three months and includes on-the job training, transportation to the nearest certification exam, payment of the exam fee, and five-month access to the cybersecurity training website Cybrary. Successful students will be encouraged to continue their education to advance in the industry.
The Weyers Cave community college, Jarboe said, hopes to have the program operational by late July or early August and will try to recruit 15 to 20 students for its first class.
It could serve as a pilot program that could be replicated in other regions, she added.
Blue Ridge will provide $54,000 in in-kind services to the program, and private partner Innovate Tech Ventures is providing a $40,000 in-kind match, according to Brian Shull, Harrisonburg’s economic development director. The Herndon-based company that seeks ways to commercialize university research will lead the on-the job training at offices in Harrisonburg and Waynesboro.
Innovate Tech will help with job placement, too, said Jarboe.
Diversification Desired
Harrisonburg supported the program financially, Shull said, because the city wants to attract cybersecurity companies.
“We’re very excited in Harrisonburg because we’ve been targeting information technology and information security for well over five years now,” he said, “and we recognize that we need to have that talent pipeline ready to fill jobs when they come available. This will certainly help provide that talent pipeline.”
If the program produces at least 50 technicians earning at the average salary for the field, Shull said the city will have received “very strong return on our investment.”
Carrie Chenery, executive director of the Shenandoah Valley Partnership, which helps staff the GO Virginia Region 8 board, said this is the second grant the region has received. It previously received funding for advanced manufacturing training in the Rockbridge County area.
GO Virginia, a new public- private program designed to encourage regional economic development collaboration, is focused on diversifying local economies, she said.
“Having this program focused on building a steady pipeline of cybersecurity workers in our region,” said Chenery, “allows for us to focus on diversifying our industry sectors going forward.”
The program, she said, also will allow Blue Ridge to add to its information technology advisory committee to help the college better serve the workforce needs of current and future companies in the Valley.
Jarboe said local residents should be benefactors of the program, too.
“I think the biggest statement is this program,” she said, “is going to give an ability for people to get high-paying jobs without having to move out of their home region to the high-cost metropolitan areas.”
Blake Somers, 15, of Harrisonburg, skates at Westover Park on Wednesday. Temperatures will remain warm today with highs around 82.
