The senators from Virginia worked to secure $870,000 in federal funding for the center — part of $200 million in federal funding that is coming to Virginia through the federal government's annual budget.
Senator Tim Kaine speaking with a group of students during his visit to Germanna's new Stafford County location.
The $870,000 for Germanna will be used to establish the James R. Clapper Center for Innovation in Cybersecurity, which will be located in the new Barbara J. Fried Center in North Stafford and will house the community college's cybersecurity degree and credential programs.
Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine speaking with Germanna President Janet Gullickson and Vice President Shashuna Gray during their tour of the new Stafford County location.
"This proposal sold itself," Kaine said of Germanna's funding request. "It's right in the sweet spot of what the country needs."
"Our country does not have the workforce it needs," Kaine said, noting that barriers like the high cost of childcare and education and health concerns such as the effects of long COVID are keeping people out of the workforce.
Meeting the needs of the cybersecurity workforce is one of the country's biggest challenges, Warner said.
"There are 3 million unfilled cyber jobs — 60,000 of them in Virginia," he said.
At the same time, cyber-attacks — especially on heathcare systems, which house personal information even more valuable than that kept by financial systems, Warner said — continue to occur.
Increasing access to required training is essential to meeting cybersecurity workforce needs, the senators said.
Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine worked to secure $870,000 in federal funding to establish the James R. Clapper Center for Innovation in Cybersecurity, which will be located in the new Barbara J. Fried Center in North Stafford and will house the college's cybersecurity degree and credential programs.
Germanna announced last year that the community college would be expanding into Stafford through the establishment of a new, permanent site. The community college's Educational Foundation purchased two buildings at Center Street in North Stafford, assisted by community donations and the Stafford Economic Development Authority.
This story was originally published in the Culpeper Star-Exponent and Free Lance-Star