By The News & Advance
Published: July 31, 2012
It wasn’t too long ago that Central Virginia’s economy was based on agriculture and low-paying manufacturing jobs. It was with the arrival of General Electric on the scene in the mid-1950s with jobs demanding a highly educated workforce that things finally began to change.
The trend continued with the arrival of nuclear services companies Areva and Babcock & Wilcox (and their predecessor companies), along with telecommunications companies.
The region’s leaders recognized the importance of a skilled and educated workforce when they organized the Central Virginia Governor’s School for Science and Technology. The recent effort to create a Governor’s Academy for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics for cutting-edge career and technical education continues in that vein.