• Dan River Region Collaborative selected for pilot rural project by NFWS
• DRR Collaborative formed
• Theory of Change Developed
• First target sector identified as Green Skills
• RFP resulted in funding for $100K targeting 45 certified green skills auditors

The Funders started their work with existing workforce partnerships that were working in urban areas across the nation and had demonstrated a propensity to change the workforce system by partnering around needed career mapping and skills development.

In the fall of 2007, they expanded into four additional urban areas.  The following year, the nationwide learning and action network further expanded by adding eight additional urban regions, and the first two rural collaboratives in the nation. The Dan River Regional Collaborative was one of the first two rural collaboratives in the nation and the first to represent the south eastern part of the United States.

In the late summer of 2008, the Danville Regional Foundation brought regional leaders to the table to discuss a potential pilot program that could be launched in the region in conjunction with the National Funds for Workforce Solutions.  Over the following months, the initial project expanded over a larger geographic footprint.  The organizational structure was formed to support the initiative, and the group worked to develop a “Theory of Change” that would lead their future efforts.  They developed an initial cluster that had the potential of meeting the goals of their target market by identifying “Green Skills” and funded the first RFP at $100K targeting the need to develop certified specialists in an emerging field in the region.