The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) is an affiliation of 23 community colleges in the Commonwealth, providing certification and degree pathways for more than 230,000 students each year. Recognizing the significant need nationwide for professional truck drivers—as well as the well-paying job opportunities available to CDL drivers—VCCS began a competitive bidding process to identify the most qualified CDL training vendors for its member schools. Citing Ancora’s ability to meet its stated requirements, program standards, and expectations, VCCS awarded a contract to Ancora Training (a division of Ancora Education) in early 2021.
Within a month of contract award, Ancora secured a partnership with Virginia Peninsula Community College (formerly Thomas Nelson Community College) and Virginia Highlands Community College, launching their first CDL courses in June 2021. Other colleges in the Commonwealth soon followed, and by mid-2022, Ancora had established training programs at ten other colleges in the state. Throughout this process, Ancora deftly handled a range of scenarios: taking over an existing program with a previous vendor, creating a non-credit program option for institutions that only offered a for-credit option limiting their ability to scale, or establishing a brand-new program for schools that never offered CDL before.
Within 18 months of launching its first training program in Virginia, Ancora had helped nearly 600 students achieve their CDL-A. Indeed.com estimates that there are currently more than 4,000 full-time job openings for entry-level CDL-A drivers, and the average starting salary in the Commonwealth is approximately $80,000—a remarkable opportunity for students who complete a four-week training course. Ancora’s strong presence in the state continues today.