Scott Pleasants

The United States is widely described as facing a cybersecurity workforce shortage, but this framing obscures the underlying issue. The challenge is not a lack of capable individuals; it is a systemic failure across education, hiring, and workforce development. Current models overemphasize academic pathways, impose unrealistic entry-level expectations, rely on rigid hiring filters, and fail to provide structured mechanisms for developing practical skills. This analysis argues that the...

The Lynchburg Region Already Produces Exceptional Talent Every year, students, developers, engineers, cybersecurity professionals, entrepreneurs, designers, and technology leaders are developed in the Lynchburg region — and many of them leave. They graduate from local universities and colleges, gain experience with regional employers, and then relocate to places like Raleigh, Charlotte, Northern Virginia, Nashville, or Austin because those communities are perceived as having stronger...

AI Is No Longer Just for Large Corporations For many small business owners, Artificial Intelligence still feels like something designed for Silicon Valley startups or billion-dollar corporations. The term often creates images of robots, complicated software, or technologies that require a full IT department to manage. But the reality is far more practical. AI is quickly becoming one of the most useful business tools available to organizations of every size — including the small businesses...