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Fly SHD Community Air Service Task Force

shdnewlogo.jpgDr. Nick Swartz serves as the chair of this task force alongside other JMU staff, community partners, and Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport’s own Executive Director and Director of Marketing and Communications. Community partners include representatives from Blue Ridge Community College, City of Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, Shenandoah Valley Partnership, Shenandoah Valley Technology Council, Hotel Madison, Lantz Construction, and more. The greatest success of this task force is its contribution to new evening frequencies between SHD and their two hub airports, Washington Dulles & Chicago O’Hare. In support of this partnership, SHD has been named the “Official Airport of JMU” and the airline terminal will soon sport new JMU branding including a full-size Duke Dog mannequin!

Visit https://www.flyshd.com 

 

Community-Based Graduate Assistantships

MCCDGradStudent.jpgMCCD and The Graduate School have partnered to offer tuition for a variety of graduate assistants who work on-site with our community partners. Organizations including Boys & Girls Clubs, Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport, Shenandoah Valley United, The Community Foundation, United Way, Way 2 Go, and more have agreed to pay the graduate assistants’ stipends and provide unique professional development opportunities in exchange for their service. Many positions recur each year while some have even resulted in graduate assistants receiving full-time job offers. New partners are always welcome!

Learn more here: https://www.jmu.edu/grad/index.shtml 

Shenandoah Valley Rebuild Powered by CO.STARTERS

stauntoncreativecommlogo.jpgCO.STARTERS Rebuild is a live-facilitated program designed to help small business entrepreneurs navigate their recovery in the wake of the global pandemic caused by COVID-19. Dr. Nick Swartz facilitates a 10-week cohort to provide participants with the tools to assess their situation, understand their needs, refocus marketing, streamline processes, and plan for long term recovery. Shenandoah Valley Rebuild is administered by the Staunton Creative Community Fund.

Learn more here: https://stauntonfund.org/rebuild

The Rural Virginia Initiative

RuralVirginia-logo.pngThe Rural Virginia Initiative is a collaborative project launched by Virginia Tech, Virginia State University, the University of Virginia, UVA’s College at Wise, and Virginia Cooperative Extension. The initiative continues to grow and garner support from other VA institutions of higher education, including JMU, to address the growing urban-rural divide across the commonwealth. We believe that universities and communities can work together to assess our economic challenges, explore innovative solutions, and promote greater opportunity.

Learn more here:  https://econdev.vt.edu/RuralVirginiaInitiative.html

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