Marty Holliday has worked in workforce development for over twenty years. She began working at the New River/Mount Rogers Workforce Development Board in 2000 as a program specialist and since then has held roles as the board’s deputy and executive director. Holliday now works for the board in a part-time capacity as its special projects manager. Earlier in her career, she served as the regional operations manager for Florida Tile. She has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Florida Southern College.

1. What was your very first job and what did it teach you?

My first job was at a pharmacy with a soda fountain counter. I had a morning shift on Saturday. I would get the counter ready to do breakfast and lunch, and that included cooking. Not unlike babysitting jobs I had as a young girl, you had responsibility. You had to be a self-starter, and you also had to be okay with working by yourself.

2. What do you enjoy most about your role at the New River/Mount Rogers Workforce Development Board?

Right now, I'm thrilled with the work we do. I'm honored to still be able to do it, even in a part-time fashion. I think the work is necessary for the region. I love doing work that will help the region and the people within it.

3. Can you share an example of a project, partnership, or initiative that you're particularly proud to have been involved with over the course of your career?

I’m proud to be part of the Connect Appalachia project. Led by the Fletcher Group, Inc., the project is using Appalachian funding to implement the Recovery-Ready Workplaces training and education model created during a previous ARISE planning project to enhance substance use disorder (SUD) recovery ecosystems, reduce workforce gaps, and promote economic opportunity throughout six Appalachian states: Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The Connect Appalachia project will provide job readiness support and job placement services to participants in SUD treatment and recovery programs.

It’s been a great opportunity to work with five other states and the grant recipient. It’s an honor for the New River/Mount Rogers Workforce Development Board to serve as the anchor entity for the state of Virginia, and I’ve enjoyed working with four other workforce areas to implement this project in the state of Virginia. We have the opportunity to learn from each other, to share our experience, and to figure out what might work best. Our communities are different, and therefore we have to be flexible and make this project our own. I like the big scope of the project. I also enjoy getting to participate in the project at the ground level. In my workforce area, I get to implement the project, and I get to be the one facilitating the training programs. This is an enormously fun project because of that hands-on work.

4. How does your work with the New River/Mount Rogers Workforce Development Board connect to the goals of GO Virginia?

Economic growth can't happen without people, and it certainly can't happen without a workforce that meets the needs of business and industry. Workforce development begins in the K-12 system and continues in community colleges and universities. But what people in our current workforce are doing, or not doing, is just as important as preparing future generations for their careers.

We need to ensure the entire workforce pipeline, in all its forms, is taken into consideration. Companies can be located anywhere in the world and learn about our region online, including information about our workforce and poverty rates. The more people we can help return to work, the more we can strengthen those metrics and improve the overall health of the regional economy.

5. What are you looking forward to learning or doing as a GO Virginia Region 2 council member?

There’s a lot I need to learn and hear. I'm hoping I can eventually share a broad perspective on workforce development and what we should be considering beyond traditional models. What would it look like if we thought creatively and developed processes that allowed everyone to enter the system, gain new skills at whatever level they can, and then rejoin the workforce?

6. Why is regional economic development important?

I currently serve on Floyd County's Economic Development Authority. Although I've spent most of my career in workforce development, I find economic development both interesting and fascinating, even if I don't understand it in quite the same way as those who work in the field every day.

What I do understand is the close connection between workforce development and economic development. Serving on Floyd County's EDA has given me the opportunity to learn from county staff, including Lydeana Martin, the community and economic development director for Floyd County, and gain a deeper appreciation for how those connections shape the future of a community.

7. When you think about success as a GO Virginia Region 2 council member, what does that look like to you?

Success looks like bringing value to the other council members and contributing thoughts and ideas that add meaning to the projects we review and the topics we discuss.

8. What is the most rewarding part of serving on the GO Virginia Region 2 council?

I like collaborative work processes, just as I talked about in the Connect Appalachia project. I like to work with people in organizations that aren't necessarily looking at things exactly the way that I do, because there's a learning opportunity for both sides. I have the chance to learn from others, and I can help someone else learn something that may expand their perspective.

9. What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

To listen. Not just to hear, but to truly listen.

10. What is the most memorable place you’ve ever visited?

A couple of years ago, we took a trip to the United Kingdom. We were going to spend a couple of nights in London so that we could get over the jet lag before we started the rest of our trip. We were staying close to where the Royal Horse Guards ride out each morning. I wanted to see the horse guards for myself, even though I had to get up very early to do so. I never made it to see the official horse guard, because on my way through Hyde Park, I saw a corral with people on horseback in English garb – Royal Horse Guard trainees in their ceremonial uniforms going through their routine. I stood there watching, completely enraptured. It was the most fascinating thing I'd ever seen.

We had such a good time at Hyde Park, and we didn't stay long enough to see other things. I've often said I want to go back because now I recognize there's so much to see and do there.

11. In your spare time, what activities do you like to do?

Two days a week, my husband and I are the main caregiver for our two-and-a-half year old granddaughter while her parents work. I am also a commissioned lay minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Virginia Synod, and serve as a Synod authorized minister for our congregation.