Virginia Senator Jen Kiggans
The September General Membership Luncheon meeting was held at the Portsmouth Renaissance hotel on Tuesday, September 21, 2021. The guest speaker was Virginia Senator Jen Kiggans, who is the current representative of the 7th Senate District, and serves on the Local Government, General Laws and Technology, and Rehabilitation and Social Services Senate Committees.
Jen started off by covering some of the most defining moments of her life, such as her time in naval flight training in Pensacola, Florida, where she met her husband, as well as the raising of her kids.
She then discussed how she still works hard at practicing medicine. With the Virginia Assembly only meeting part-time, she gets to devote time to being a board-certified Adult-Geriatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner.
Jen then dove into how she originally found her way into the Virginia Senate. After her husband had jokingly told her to stop yelling at state politics she saw on the T.V. and do something about it, she decided to voice her frustration in a productive way through running for office. Being a proud self-starter, and after many hours learning how to run a campaign, including a class on the subject, she ran in the 2019 Virginia Senate race and won, assuming her position representing District 7 on January 8, 2020.
After acknowledging the continued challenges of COVID, Jen spoke positively about Virginia’s offshore wind developments and of the potential opportunities for the ship repair industry here in Hampton Roads.
Next, she spoke on her previous attendance at several VSRF Lego Competitions, discussing the role it can play in stimulating middle school interest in ship-related careers. Continuing the subject of careers, she praised the development of Virginia’s G3 tuition assistance program and is hopeful it will reduce the workforce challenges ship repair faces, especially with the pandemic gaining a second wind. Lastly, she said the Marine Trade Training program will be on her mind when the Virginia Assembly meets in 2022.
After taking several questions, Jen closed by thanking VSRA and all those in attendance for having her. As a parting gift, she was then presented with a certificate demonstrating a donation to the Armed Services YMCA of Hampton Roads made by VSRA in her behalf.
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