On May 17, the Workforce Development Division hosted the third installment of the Workforce Industry Building Learning Series. The purpose of the series is to build the Workforce Development Division business services brand within the Northern Virginia business community. The theme for the latest event was healthcare reform. Executives representing a cross-section of the Northern Virginia business community attended the lunch discussion titled “Moving Forward with Healthcare Reform” at Annandale’s Ernst Center.

The featured speaker was The Honorable William A. Hazel, Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Resources, Commonwealth of Virginia. Also participating in the discussion was Julie Veratti, advisor for the U.S. Small Business Administration. Hazel discussed detailed steps the state of Virginia is taking to implement the Affordable Care Act, while Veratti discussed the potential impact the new health care law will have on Northern Virginia businesses. They both addressed questions from an audience of more than 120.

A feedback survey was also conducted and according to the data the demand for events like this is very strong as nearly 95 percent of attendees said they would attend future Workforce Industry Building Learning Series events at NOVA. There are spinoff plans for the Workforce Development Division to host a monthly Business Series in collaboration with the U.S. Small Business Administration set to begin in July 2013.