NH Division of Economic Development Director Will Arvelo honored by Great Bay Community College as a Distinguished Leader on 11/1/19. A scholarship in his name has been established at the college.
Will Arvelo, director of the Division of Economic Development, was honored earlier this month at Great Bay Community College’s annual Distinguished Leaders Gala. The following is from the evening’s program.-ED.
Dr. Wildolfo Arvelo is the director of the Division of Economic Development, which is part of the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs. In this role, he works with a team that focuses on state-wide issues related to economic development and strategy; business recruitment, expansion and retention; workforce training and development; business and education outreach; and diversity and inclusion.
Prior to his appointment by Gov. Sununu, Arvelo served 33 years in leadership positions within higher education at public and private colleges. From 2007-2017, he served as president of Great Bay Community College, where he transformed the college to be outwardly focused and on developing products/programs to better serve the needs of business and industry.
Arvelo oversaw the building of the Portsmouth campus, as well as the subsequent move of the college from Stratham. In 2012, he oversaw the construction of a satellite campus in Rochester that focused on manufacturing education and in 2015, the addition of the college’s Student Success Center.
Arvelo is dedicated to the exploration of collaborations and partnerships between New Hampshire’s business and industry sector and higher education, recognizing that an educated workforce is the best hope for economic development and New Hampshire’s future.
From 2011-2015, he was principal investigator for the $20 million U.S. Department of Labor TAACCCT grant for capacity building in advance manufacturing education for New Hampshire. He also worked to enhance science, technology, engineering and math education at the college and to build articulation pathways with the University System of New Hampshire and other colleges and universities in the state. He also encouraged and supported faculty involvement in National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health efforts to increase undergraduate research at Great Bay, in partnership with Dartmouth College and UNH.
He has served on numerous regional and state-wide education, business development and non-profit boards. In 2012, the City of Portsmouth Business Chamber selected him the Citizen of the Year, citing his strong support of business and education.
Wildolfo (Will) Arvelo was sworn in Jan. 18 as director of the Division of Economic Development by Gov. Chris Sununu.
Arvelo joined the agency earlier this month, following 11 years as president of Great Bay Community College in Portsmouth.
During that time, he oversaw the college’s move from Stratham to the Pease International Tradeport; development of the Advanced Technology and Academic Center in Rochester and a catalyst for creating programs meeting the needs of Seacoast employers and industries.
Taylor Caswell, commissioner of Business and Economic Affairs, said Arvelo’s experience is a great fit for the division, at a time when New Hampshire is growing.
“Our economy demands that we be able to meet the workforce demands of our employer community, and Will’s experience fits perfectly into those strategies,” Caswell said.
In his new role, Arvelo will oversee the division charged with business retention; business recruitment; international commerce; government contracting; workforce development, and marketing.
“I am honored and overjoyed to be joining Governor Sununu, Commissioner Caswell, and the Business and Economic Affairs team as we focus on building the economic landscape and workforce that will carry New Hampshire into the future and make it a top destination for new companies, workers and visitors,” he said. “I’m excited about, and looking forward to, working with entities and the many talented people across the state interested in collaborating as we explore new directions for how we think about and implement economic and workforce development strategies and initiatives.”
New Hampshire employers will receive much-needed investments in workforce skills training as a result of grants announced by the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs.
The public-private Job Training Fund investments will result in over $400,000 to be used for skills enhancement training for over 800 New Hampshire workers.
Taylor Caswell, commissioner of the Department of Business and Economic Affairs, said the grants signify new efforts, coupled with smart investments, to engage businesses in education and training to enhance workforce development in New Hampshire.
Employers, he said, are aware of the state’s workforce challenges and responding by increasing their investment in skills training.
“While we are certainly happy with the state’s low unemployment rate, it also means we need to have useful strategies to attract new talent and train our current workforce,” he said. “The Job Training Fund is a great example of the types of public/private partnership we are developing and we know work best for New Hampshire. These efforts include high growth sector-based initiatives, apprenticeships, and On-The-Job training. All awards under the Job Training Fund are matched by the employer, which makes this program a true public-private partnership in New Hampshire and gets everyone a great bang for the buck.”
Caswell also noted that this year’s demand for training programs is approximately twice that of last year.
“Our employers need this program, and I think it’s fair to say based on the demand, it’s working,” he said.
Grants were awarded to:
D. Bean & Sons Co., of Jaffrey; $1,940 to train 10 employees in intermediate and advanced Quickbooks, and intermediate/ddvanced Microsoft Excel, at Nashua Community College;
L. King & Associates of Nashua; $982.50 for one employee to obtain a construction superintendent certification from the New Hampshire/Vermont Association of Builders and Contractors;
WH Bagshaw of Nashua; $1,500 to train 10 employees in GDT/blueprint reading at Nashua Community College;
Benchmark Senior Living LLC, with five facilities in New Hampshire; $46,900 for 45 workers to receive LNA training from LNA Health Careers; medication nursing assistant training from Manchester Community College, and training in quality service, quality excellence and business excellence from the Disney Institute;
Northeast Delta Dental of Concord, $7,500; Red River Computer Co., of Claremont, $7,500, and Mascoma Bank, $9,750, for training a total of 10 employees in the University of New Hampshire’s New Level Leadership Consortium Program.
Vapotherm Inc., of Exeter; $60,000 for training 100 employees at Nashua Community College in Lean Process Improvement; injection molding; quality-risk project management; customer service, and management and leadership practices;
Lindt & Sprungli USA of Stratham; $65,950 for 626 workers to participate in the Train the Trainer program and English as a Second Language, both at Great Bay Community College; the mechanics training program at Scientific Management Technologies; Ametrol eLearning with Technical Education Products Inc., and power lift training by Safe Lifting Techniques.
For more information about the New Hampshire Job Training Fund, visit nhjobtrainingfund.org.
NH Economy Director Carmen Lorentz (holding placque), with Office of Workforce Opportunity team Nadine Sacco, left, Michael Power and Jacqueline Heuser
There we were on Friday afternoon, watching the snow fly and finishing up the work week when this arrived: A handsome plaque proclaiming New Hampshire as first in the northeast for state workforce development.
“Site Selection’s second annual state workforce development rankings are intended to provide a general sense of which states in a given region are devoting sufficient or superior resources to preparing their workforces for current and future employment.”
If your business is seeking ways to boost your workforce, check out the information on our website and then give us a call.
Lorna Colquhoun
Communications Director
Division of Economic Development
