Rappahannock Community College Hosts Green Vendor Fair in Gloucester, VA

At the end of April, Rappahannock Community College in Virginia hosted a green vendor fair, in partnership,

Green Vendor Fair hosted by Rapphannock Community College, photo taken by National Wildlife Federation staff
with the Gloucester County Chamber of Commerce. More than 15 green vendors attended highlighting their environmentally friendly products and services available to the community of Gloucester. Employers (vendors) present included Dominion Power, Phillips Energy, Green Planters, Gloucester Toyota, Lamb Exterminating, Rappahannock Community College and more.

Rappahanock Community College’s table featured their green workforce development course offerings including “Harnessing the Sun – Solar Systems: Installation and maintenance”, “Harnessing the Wind – Wind Power Systems: Installation and maintenance”, and a course specifically geared for kids, “Elementary Lego® Engineering 2 ‘Going Green’” for students (ages 11-12) to creatively build and modify machines applying basic engineering principles and green technology.

The Green Vendor Fair not only helped the community learn what products and services are available (including educational services available through Rappahannock Community College), but for the companies (potential employers) to highlight what green skills are in demand and how the educational providers (i.e., Rappahannock Community College) can help develop training programs to ensure they are meeting this demand. The Green Vendor Fair was partially funded through a grant of the Greenforce Initiative, a partnerships of Jobs for the Future and National Wildlife Federation. The Greenforce Initiative works in six regional across the country, including Virginia, to help advance greener workforce development at community colleges and bridge campus sustainability efforts as hands-on training opportunities for students. Rapphannock Community College and ten other community colleges in Virginia are partners in the Greenforce Initiative.

Learn more about Rappahannock Community College’s green workforce development offerings.

Check out National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology case study database for best practices in green workforce development.