Laurel Ridge Community College Workforce Solutions

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Laurel Ridge Community College Workforce Solutions Official Laurel Ridge Community College Workforce Solutions account. laurelridgeworkforce.com How can you acquire these skills?

In order to be successful, you have a personal responsibility to continually hone your existing skills, acquire new skills, and look for opportunities to grow. Choice employers seek employees who possess the needed skills to adapt and grow with their business. That's where the Office of Workforce Solutions and Continuing Education comes in. We offer non-credit classes in a variety of skill topics to help you grow professionally.

2025 Rappahannock County High School graduate Hunter Jenkins says the Trades Academy classes and the CDL course he took ...
10/17/2026

2025 Rappahannock County High School graduate Hunter Jenkins says the Trades Academy classes and the CDL course he took at Laurel Ridge Community have helped him to get hired by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and to take on a new role.

Jenkins first attended the HVAC Trades Academy at the Fauquier Campus when he was a senior, taking HVAC classes.

“I just kind of come from that kind of background where I’ve always grown up working with my hands,” Jenkins said. “My whole life, my family has always done that type of labor. I knew that I wasn’t looking at a two- or four-year college. I was just expanding my options by attending the Trades Academy.”

He said his class was the first Rappahannock County High one to get to experience the Trades Academy.

“It was a pretty cool experience that I thought fit me and my lifestyle pretty good,” said Jenkins. “The classes are taught by individuals who are actually in the field and are licensed and very knowledgeable.”

Jenkins began working for VDOT in late 2025.

“I think the academy played a role in my getting hired because it showed my wanting to take initiative, wanting to learn, wanting to expand myself,” he said.

Initially, Jenkins worked with a signs and paint marking crew, and now he is with a structure and bridge crew, which required he attain a CDL license within a year. So, Jenkins returned to Laurel Ridge – this time at the Middletown Campus – to take CDL classes.

“I feel like the class was very beneficial,” he said. “The instructors were knowledgeable. That was probably my favorite of the classes I’ve taken through Laurel Ridge.”

Jenkins said he would “definitely” recommend the Trades Academy and other Workforce Solutions classes to other high school students.

“I feel like for those kids who are in that field and have that vision to use their hands, and don’t want to go to a four-year college, the Trades Academy and having those sorts of classes give them the opportunity that other kids have and they deserve, too,” he said.

Bored with his desk job and unnerved by multiple layoffs thanks to the disruption caused by the emergence of artificial ...
10/07/2026

Bored with his desk job and unnerved by multiple layoffs thanks to the disruption caused by the emergence of artificial intelligence, Mike Mullins has pivoted to a fulfilling and well-paid career in welding thanks to Laurel Ridge Community College Workforce Solutions.

“I worked in cybersecurity for nearly 15 years and I was what some people consider pretty successful,” said Mullins. “At one point I was an executive vice president. It just wasn’t what I wanted to do.”

The amount of traveling he had to do was wearing, and eight years of remote work got to him, too.

“It was just really boring staring at four walls nonstop,” Mullins explained.

Then, came the AI impacts.

“As it all started, I got laid off four times in a row,” Mullins said. “We ended up losing our house because of it. I started to look for a change, something that was a little more stable, or kind of AI-proof.”

Mullins, who lives in Front Royal, had been doing hobby welding, making go-karts, bookshelves and metal art. He had taught himself basic welding techniques through YouTube videos and had his own mobile welding business. He was paid $200 an hour by one client.

“That’s when I started to realize welding was good money,” Mullins said. “I started looking at classes, and they were pretty expensive in the area – I hadn’t found Laurel Ridge yet.”

Then, Mullins’ wife mentioned that the older sister of their daughter’s friend was taking an Electrical class at Laurel Ridge. A Blauch Brothers Inc. Skilled Trades Scholarship allowed him to take the MIG Welding course over the summer at no cost to him.

“I had a lot of fun,” Mullins said about the class. “I took it seriously and I love what I do now. I think it was one of the greatest experiences. Instructor Jake Rust was pretty incredible.”

He said he learned more advanced welding techniques and got to use much better equipment than he owned at the time.

“If you’re really into welding, in the Saturday class you pretty much get the opportunity to weld for no less than six hours straight, which in my book is awesome,” Mullins said. “Jake was absolutely amazing. I had multiple job offers, and he even pointed me in which direction to go.”

Mullins was accepted into the Ironworkers Local 5 union, which credited him with 1,000 hours towards his apprenticeship thanks to his Laurel Ridge class and his passing the American Welding Society 1G certification. He had multiple options when it came to jobs, and remembered Rust had mentioned the union to him. Mullins said he sent an email to the union, got a reply within an hour and was asked to come in the next day.

“I did a weld test that day, and was signing paperwork two days later,” he said.

Currently, Mullins is working on a construction site in Ashburn.

“I love it,” he said. “I work with some really great guys. They’ve taught me a lot. When I started the job, I had an absolute fear of heights, but that quickly changes. I’d say the apprenticeship program [with the union] is well laid out.”

Even now, Mullins said he is able to reach out to his former instructor, Rust, and get advice.

Learn more about the Welding program at laurelridgeworkforce.com/welding.

Nearly 1,500 eighth graders from 10 middle schools joined us at the Middletown Campus on Friday for Worlds of Work 2026,...
10/05/2026

Nearly 1,500 eighth graders from 10 middle schools joined us at the Middletown Campus on Friday for Worlds of Work 2026, exploring careers with more than 40 local employers and community partners. Thank you to everyone who helped connect classroom learning to real-world opportunity and made the day a success!

Develop the leadership skills you need to motivate your team, improve communication, and drive results while not disrupt...
09/28/2026

Develop the leadership skills you need to motivate your team, improve communication, and drive results while not disrupting your work schedule. Designed for busy managers, supervisors, and emerging leaders, Leadership Basecamp allows participants to learn anytime, anywhere, making it ideal for employees working first, second, or third shifts.

✅ Learn at your own pace and at your own convenience
✅ Access materials 24/7
✅ Gain practical leadership tools
✅ Apply skills on the job

Contact Jay Foreman at [email protected] or 540-868-7283 for more information!

Looking for a career in construction, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, welding or manufacturing? Don't miss the Trades Job Fa...
09/22/2026

Looking for a career in construction, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, welding or manufacturing? Don't miss the Trades Job Fair on Oct. 8 from 5 – 7 p.m. in the Corron Community Development Center at the Middletown Campus. Connect with employers hiring today and explore training programs to get you started! https://laurelridgeworkforce.com/trades-job-fair/

We had a great time showing off our commercial driver's license (CDL) program and one of our tractor-trailers at the of...
09/21/2026

We had a great time showing off our commercial driver's license (CDL) program and one of our tractor-trailers at the of Virginia Building Association's Touch a Truck event, held last weekend at the Clarke County Fairgrounds. Learn more at https://laurelridgeworkforce.com/cdl 🚛

Jesse Godsey credits Laurel Ridge Community College’s Construction Project Management course with catapulting him to car...
09/21/2026

Jesse Godsey credits Laurel Ridge Community College’s Construction Project Management course with catapulting him to career success.

He took the class through the college’s Workforce Solutions division in fall 2025. Godsey had been in the construction industry for about four years when he enrolled in the program, which qualifies for both Workforce Credential Grant funding as a FastForward program and G3 funding. The former covers two-thirds the cost of tuition, while G3 picks up any remaining costs for eligible students.

Prior to working in the construction field, Godsey, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, had done electrical and avionics work on helicopters, but had no formal education when it came to construction.

“I was trying to get some official training, some official education on construction project management outside of the jump-in-headfirst-and-learn-how-to-swim method,” he said. “I chose Laurel Ridge because it’s a good location – I live in Front Royal. Also, someone I respected a lot in the industry, Bill Potempa, was the instructor.

Godsey worked in construction business development, rather than hands-on building, for a construction service provider. It was an enjoyable field to be in, but he wanted a little more.

“My big complaint was I never got to see a project through from start to finish,” he said. “I wanted to be involved in building something from the beginning all the way through to the end of the project.”

The chief benefits of the Construction Project Management course were discovering the importance of scheduling, understanding and tracking costs, and learning how to effectively communicate with various groups of people, according to Godsey.

“I liked the course a lot,” he said. “There was a lot of really good in-depth information on how a small change or a small skill can have a butterfly effect, creating a much larger influence on a project’s budget or outcome.”

A lesson on various leadership styles was especially impactful.

“One of the biggest things I took away from it was learning to meet people where they are,” Godsey said. “You have to adjust how you lead based on someone’s experience, confidence and ability. You can’t manage everybody exactly the same way. I use that in my day to day.”

Just a year and a half ago, Godsey was beginning his career in construction management as an assistant project manager.

“Typically, it can easily take five to seven years to progress from an entry-level project management role to becoming a project manager,” he said. “In about a year and a half, I went from being completely new to construction management, to being promoted to project manager.

“A lot of what I learned in the Construction Project Management course at Laurel Ridge, I apply directly to how I manage my projects today. The course helped give me a foundation that would otherwise have taken years of experience to develop, and it’s had a huge impact on my ability to succeed and progress as quickly as I have.”

Students who successfully complete the program earn a credential from the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER). According to Career Coach powered by Lightcast Data, there is projected 12-percent growth for construction managers in this region, with a median hourly wage of $47.

The next class starts Sept. 21, and meets Monday and Thursday evenings until Dec. 7, at the Middletown Campus. It will be offered at the Fauquier Campus starting March 15. Learn more by visiting https://laurelridgeworkforce.com/ or calling 540-868-7021.

Certified Mission Critical Operator students check out a mobile training unit on the Middletown Campus recently.
09/17/2026

Certified Mission Critical Operator students check out a mobile training unit on the Middletown Campus recently.

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173 Skirmisher Lane
Middletown, VA
22645

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Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 2pm

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