DANVILLE, Va. – Next month, 222 Telvista employees will be out of a job.
Patrick Henry Community College's vice president of workforce, economic and community development, Rhonda Hodges, says to prepare, the Virginia Community College System's statewide rapid response team has begun reaching out to Telvista to try to work with the employees.
"We typically will hold meetings with all the affected employees to let them know all of the services, training, job search that we can help them with," Hodges explained.
WSLS also reached out to Danville Community College Tuesday, as well as Averett University, but neither had anyone available.
Hodges says there are plenty of jobs available, which is why community colleges could be so beneficial to the employees about to be laid off.
"The Virginia Community College System has done a lot of research, showing that most of the jobs actually fall within that area that may be less than a four-year degree but they do need some additional training or an industry to help prepare them," said Hodges. "We do actually have programs that may be as short as 12 weeks that could prepare them."
Petrina Carter manages the Virginia Employment Commission office in Danville, located in the Virginia Workforce Center, along with numerous other employment agencies with resources for employees.
"We have funding for a lot of the programs (in the workforce center) that will assist individuals who want to advance their careers," Carter said.
When a large layoff happens, West Piedmont Investment Board executive director Lisa Fultz says the board works closely with agencies like the employment commission to make accessing resources as convenient as possible for employees.
"Our workforce partners pull together and work as a team so that we're collaborating to provide services on site if employers will allow that," said Fultz.
The layoffs will take effect September 30.
According to a statement from the company last month confirming that layoffs were being considered, the company cited an unexpected reduction in one of its customer's business needs as the reason for the layoffs.