SUFFOLK, VIRGINIA – On Friday November 15, the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) held its annual Hampton Roads area Chancellor’s Award Luncheon to recognize excellent service in the field of Workforce Development.  This was the fifth of six regional luncheons held in November to recognize outstanding employees at each community college in the Commonwealth.  The luncheon was held at Tidewater Community College’s Workforce Development Center and included the three other community colleges in the Hampton Roads region:  Paul D. Camp Community College, Thomas Nelson Community College, and Eastern Shore Community College (ESCC).

 ESCC’s recipients are as follows:

Gay Baynes, Employer Services.  Gay Baynes has a quarter century of experience working internationally as an executive coach and organizational consultant and is a qualified psychotherapist, a former professional actress and a management consultant, all of which has contributed to her ability to support Eastern Shore Community College in providing customized training to employers on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.  Ms. Baynes designed and conducted a series of full-day customer service classes to 45 staff members at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (CBBT) Authority; a 4-day “Personal Impact” course for clients of the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS); and a 32-hour “Leadership Training” course for group leaders at Perdue Farms, Accomack County Plant, a major employer on the Shore.

Martha Costin, Career Pathways.  As the Staff Recruiter for Perdue Farms’ Accomac Plant, Martha Costin serves on the Career Pathways Educational Consortium of the Eastern Shore.  She is the kind of person and business partner who makes things happen.  When others can’t or won’t get the job done, Martha does.  She is forward thinking in her approach and, accordingly, does not dwell on the past or the difficulties that might reside there.  She puts her focus on progress and how to reach goals successfully.  She understands that many of tomorrow’s good employees are today’s trainees through programs and services that are conducted in partnership with ESCC and the local school divisions.  She also serves on the Northampton County Public Schools’ Career and Technical Education (CTE) Advisory Council.

John Floyd, Occupation Specific.  John Floyd is an outstanding faculty member at ESCC who has always been very supportive of Workforce Development Services.  For the past three years, John was a key leader in helping ESCC obtain two (2) National Science Foundation grants that enabled ESCC to expand its relationship with NASA especially in the area of internships.  His students have participated in launches at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility through a partnership with the Colorado Space Grant Consortium’s RockSAT-C and ROCKON programs.  He facilitated ESCC’s acceptance into SpaceTech, a prestigious and selective Florida based consortium of colleges and universities that work with the aerospace industry.  He even persuaded SpaceTech to hold their next national annual meeting at ESCC, which they will do in February of 2014.