Warner: Post-COVID economy ‘is going to look different’

As U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) toured the Emil & Grace Shihadeh Innovation Center that’s under construction on Jefferson Street, he noted how important skills in advance technologies will be in the post-coronavirus economy.

“The post-COVID economy is going to look different than the pre-COVID economy,” Warner told local officials on Wednesday afternoon. “It’s going to move the digital economy forward 10 years.”

He added that he thinks about 10% to 20% of jobs lost as a result of the coronavirus won’t be coming back, which will require people to require new skills for the growing digital workforce.

The Innovation Center, located in the former John Kerr Elementary School, will be a hub for Career and Technical Education (CTE) classes for Winchester Public Schools. It will house academies for health sciences, advance technologies and professional skills. Students are slated to start attending classes there next fall.