Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, and Rep. Don Beyer joined the leaders of Boeing and Virginia Tech at the former’s Crystal City headquarters this morning to announce a new veterans initiative.
The announcement that drew the state’s top elected officials was the creation of the Boeing Center for Veteran Transition and Military Families at the new Virginia Tech Innovation Campus at Potomac Yard in Alexandria, just down the road.
It comes just over a month after Boeing announced that its existing Crystal City office campus would become the company’s global headquarters. While the move will only result in a relatively small shift of personnel from the existing headquarters in Chicago, it was highly touted by Youngkin, Warner and other elected officials.
“Boeing’s recent announcement to move its headquarters to Virginia and reaffirm its commitment to building the next generation of tech talent is a timely development for the Commonwealth, and is made more exciting by their extensive partnership with Virginia Tech,” Youngkin said in a statement.
“Their pledge to create the Boeing Center for Veteran Transition and Military Families ensures that the Commonwealth and its businesses continue to invest in diverse career pathways for veterans and students alike, all the while helping businesses thrive,” the governor continued.
The new Boeing Center, part of the company’s previously-announced $50 million investment into Virginia Tech’s new campus, is set to provide veterans with “economic and workforce programs,” mental health resources, and community service opportunities, according to a separate news release from Boeing.
“This is just a very important service that our military veterans need, a big assist to get into civilian life and to pursue civilian livelihoods, and to pursue tech degrees and all those things,” Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said during the announcement.
“Virginia has about 725,000 veterans that call Virginia their home, 155,000 active duty, reserve and National Guardsmen, and I’m biased, I want them to stay in Virginia,” Youngkin said during the announcement.
In addition to the veterans center, Boeing also plans to provide scholarships to Innovation Campus students, facilitate the recruitment of faculty and researchers, and fund STEM initiatives to underserved K-12 students.
“I hope it gets very big,” Calhoun said. “Just suffice to say, we’re going to take advantage of this location and try to attract as many young people as we possibly can to this trade and to our company.”
The press release from the governor’s office is below.
Today, Governor Glenn Youngkin was joined by Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun and Virginia Tech President Tim Sands to announce a public-private partnership uniting industry, government, and academia to drive talent development and increased labor force participation in Virginia.
The partnership builds upon Boeing’s $50 million, multi-year commitment that helped jump-start the development of Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus, which offers a new model for graduate education in computer science and engineering, and aims to create the most diverse technology campus in the United States.
Boeing became the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus’ first foundational partner in 2021 to broaden its technology focus across Aerospace & Defense applications, bolstering Virginia as a global innovation hub. The campus will become an internationally recognized research center for Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Software, Wireless Communications and Intelligent Interfaces.
Governor Youngkin also announced the formation of the Boeing Center for Veteran Transition and Military Families on Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus, which will work in concert with the Commonwealth’s Veterans and Defense Affairs Secretariat. The new center will be a key part of his plan to establish a statewide network of resources for Veterans and their families. This initiative includes the creation of an integrated, best-in-class digital hub that seamlessly connects Veterans and their families to services and benefits provided across the Commonwealth. The State has also committed employees from the Department of Veterans Services to staff the Center on Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus.
“Boeing’s recent announcement to move its headquarters to Virginia and reaffirm its commitment to building the next generation of tech talent is a timely development for the Commonwealth, and is made more exciting by their extensive partnership with Virginia Tech,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “The relocation of a world-class company like Boeing to Virginia is testament to the wealth of talent and human capital in our state. Their pledge to create the Boeing Center for Veteran Transition and Military Families ensures that the Commonwealth and its businesses continue to invest in diverse career pathways for veterans and students alike, all the while helping businesses thrive.”
\”We know that Virginia and Northern Virginia particularly have a high concentration of service members and their families. When separating service members look for their next career step, we want them to choose Virginia. We are committed to making Virginia the best choice for Veterans and their spouses to live, work, and raise a family. This statewide network of resources and connectivity is a step in the right direction to make that a reality,” said Secretary of Defense and Veterans Affairs Craig Crenshaw.
As part of the Boeing-Virginia Tech partnership, the world renowned Aerospace & Defense company has committed to providing student scholarships, facilitating recruitment of world-class faculty, funding K-12 STEM pathway programs, and supporting programs for non-traditional undergraduates, including veterans, to enroll in its state of the art programs.
“I applaud Boeing for their long-term commitment to the Commonwealth and investments in Virginia’s human capital,” said Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera. “This partnership in K-12 and higher education will further develop our talent pool to ensure we bolster Virginia’s current workforce while also strengthening the pathways for our increasingly diverse citizenry to be prepared for the knowledge economy. Virginians will reap the benefits of this government-corporate-academic collaboration for generations.”
“Boeing has a long, proud history of supporting veterans and their families during and after their service. We’re also a leading employer of service members, with veterans representing more than 15% of our workforce. So we’re honored to join Virginia and Virginia Tech to build on Boeing’s commitment to veterans with this Center for Veteran Transition & Military Families,” said Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun. “This initiative will unlock new career opportunities for veterans and their families and help develop leading technical talent while affirming our continued investment in Northern Virginia.”
“Virginia Tech has a long history of successful partnerships with Boeing and the Commonwealth, and we look forward to working with them to provide a home for this important initiative for veterans at the Innovation Campus,” said Virginia Tech President Tim Sands. “We know veterans bring unique talents and abilities to our campus, and the commonwealth’s workforce.”
Boeing, Virginia Tech, and Governor Youngkin made the announcement today at an event at Boeing’s office in Arlington, VA.