Virginia has again been named the best state in the country for customized workforce training, extending a winning streak that has become one of the Commonwealth’s strongest economic development advantages.

Business Facilities ranked the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program No. 1 nationally for the fourth consecutive year. The program, created by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership in collaboration with the Virginia Community College System, has supported more than 22,000 jobs since its launch in 2019.

The ranking matters because workforce has become the central question in nearly every major industrial project.

Companies considering new shipyards, advanced manufacturing plants, defense facilities, energy projects and logistics operations are no longer asking only whether a region has available land, infrastructure and incentives. They are asking whether it can recruit thousands of people, train them for specific production processes and keep them on the job.

Virginia’s answer is increasingly sophisticated. The Talent Accelerator works directly with new and expanding companies to design recruitment and training programs around their equipment, processes, quality standards and workplace culture. Those services are provided at no cost to qualifying companies as an incentive for job creation.

But the statewide ranking tells only part of the story.

In Hampton Roads, Virginia’s workforce advantage is reinforced by something relatively rare in American economic development: a regional system organized around the needs of an entire industrial base.

The Hampton Roads Workforce Council coordinates workforce programs across 15 cities and counties, creating a structure that extends beyond individual municipal boundaries.

That regional approach is critical in a labor market where workers routinely cross city lines and where the largest employers draw talent from across both sides of the harbor.

At the center of the strategy is the Hampton Roads Regional Maritime Training System, a coordinated network of employers, community colleges, school divisions, training organizations and workforce partners led by the Workforce Council.

The system was initially supported by an $11 million federal Good Jobs Challenge grant. It has also received $11.9 million through BlueForge Alliance in partnership with the U.S. Navy, along with additional federal and nonfederal funding.

Within approximately 100 miles of Newport News Shipbuilding, the network includes 38 training providers and a coalition of employers representing an estimated 85% of Hampton Roads’ maritime employment.

The results are substantial.

Since the system launched in 2024, more than 6,650 workers have enrolled in training programs and more than 5,800 have graduated, producing an overall completion rate of 87%. Completion rates have reached 85% for welding, 91% for electrical training, 96% for outside machinists and more than 93% for pipefitting and shipfitting.

Regional maritime employers reported demand for 5,017 skilled workers as of September 2025. The system had already trained nearly 6,000 workers by June of that year. Its goal is to expand regional capacity to nearly 10,000 trainees annually by 2028.

Those numbers make the Hampton Roads system more than another workforce initiative. They position it as a national model for how regions can organize employers, education providers and public funding around a clearly defined industrial mission.

The U.S. Navy Talent Pipeline Program adds another layer to the region’s workforce infrastructure.

The program works directly with defense manufacturers to improve recruiting, hiring, onboarding, leadership development and employee retention. Rather than treating workforce development as simply a matter of placing people into training classes, the program focuses on helping employers build repeatable systems that keep new workers engaged and productive.

Hampton Roads is one of several regional “flags” operating across the country, but it has played a foundational role in the program’s development. The local network brings together maritime manufacturers, educators, Navy representatives and workforce organizations around shared hiring and retention challenges.

The regional program also connects young people directly with employers. A February 2026 Career Discovery Day at Tidewater Community College’s Skilled Trades Academy brought together more than 100 candidates and 18 manufacturing companies. Students toured regional facilities, met employers and participated in a maritime welding competition tied to national industry standards.

That direct connection matters. Too many workforce programs train people without a clear line of sight to an employer. Hampton Roads is increasingly building the system in reverse: identify industry demand, design the training and connect participants with companies before they finish.

The region is also investing in physical training capacity.

Tidewater Community College’s Skilled Trades Academy in Portsmouth provides accelerated, hands-on instruction in maritime coating, pipefitting, welding, sheet metal, electrical work and other industrial and construction trades.

Some programs can prepare students for entry-level employment in as few as three weeks. Courses are offered during the day, evenings and weekends, allowing recent high school graduates, transitioning service members and working adults to enter the system through different pathways. TCC also works with employers to connect students with job placement and pre-apprenticeship opportunities.

On the Peninsula, Virginia Peninsula Community College opened the Newport News Trades Center in March 2026.

The 16,000-square-foot facility sits near Newport News Shipbuilding and was developed through a partnership involving the college, the Navy’s Maritime Industrial Base and the Newport News Economic Development Authority.

The center includes 20 welding bays and training space for structural fitting, marine electrical work, coatings, HVAC, plumbing and facilities maintenance. Its location places industrial training directly within the community and only minutes from one of the country’s most important shipyards.

Together, the TCC and VPCC facilities create training capacity on both sides of Hampton Roads. More importantly, they are connected to a broader regional system rather than operating as isolated academic programs.

The next industrial economy will not look exactly like the last one.

Traditional welding, machining, electrical work and shipfitting will remain essential. But those trades will increasingly operate alongside robotics, additive manufacturing, autonomous systems, artificial intelligence and advanced production technology.

Hampton Roads is positioned to compete because it already possesses the difficult-to-replicate foundation: thousands of experienced tradespeople, major industrial employers, a large veteran population, two community college systems, specialized training facilities and a workforce organization capable of coordinating resources across local boundaries.

The region is not starting from scratch. It already builds nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines, repairs and maintains the Navy’s fleet and supports one of the country’s largest concentrations of defense and maritime companies.

Its competitive advantage is not simply that skilled workers live here. It is that Hampton Roads has become increasingly organized around producing more of them.

Virginia’s fourth consecutive national workforce ranking confirms that the Commonwealth has built an effective statewide model. Hampton Roads demonstrates how that model can be concentrated around a strategic industry and scaled to meet national demand.

As states compete for the factories, shipyards and defense investments shaping America’s industrial resurgence, tax incentives will matter. Industrial sites will matter. Infrastructure will matter.

But the regions that win will be those capable of turning people into skilled workers at scale.

Hampton Roads has built the system to do it.

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The Ledger Star is an independent digital publication covering the people, decisions, investments, and ideas shaping the future of Hampton Roads. It focuses on what matters most to the region's business, civic, and community leaders, providing context and analysis rather than chasing every headline.