Our Faculty and Staff

Matt Earnest  

Vice President, Economic and Workforce Development 

Matt is the Vice President of Economic and Workforce Development for Bridgemont Community and Technical College. He is a graduate of Virginia Tech with a BS in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research and Boston University with a Master’s in Human Resources Education.

Matt is a certified Achieve Global Facilitator, a certified AAMT Instructor (Advanced Analytical Method of Training), a graduate of the Franklin Covey Personal Coaching Program, and a graduate of Leadership Maine, a statewide leadership development program administered by the Maine Development Foundation. His chosen areas of training focus are sustainability, lean manufacturing, quality improvement, leadership development, and managerial effectiveness.

Matt also serves as the Interim Chair of the newly created Bridgemont Sustainability Institute. The Institute’s mission is “…to achieve a sustainable West Virginia… a place where individuals and organizations are developed to be environmentally, economically, and socially sound for the benefit of future generations.”

Matt’s professional experience includes a number of senior leadership positions in Industrial Engineering, Training and Development, Quality and Sustainability. During his more than 25 years in industry, Matt worked at Newport News Shipbuilding, Burlington Industries, and Interface Fabrics, Inc. He was also President of his own training company, Not Just Another Training Company, which specialized in leadership development.

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Rebecca W. Prokity   

Program Director of Workforce Development & Asst. Professor/Instructional Specialist

Rebecca is Program Director of Workforce Development and an Assistant Professor and Instructional Specialist at Bridgemont Community and Technical College.  She is working on her Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction and is a graduate of West Virginia University with an MBA in Management and Technology and a BBA in Marketing and Transportation. Rebecca also graduated from the Economic Development Institute through the University of Oklahoma and the American Economic Development Council.

Rebecca is a Certified Building Analyst and RESNET® HERS Certified Energy Auditor/Rater. She also has certifications as an OSHA Instructor for General Industry, an Achieve Global Facilitator and DACUM (Design a Curriculum) Facilitator. Rebecca is a Certified Master Trainer for NCCER (National Center for Construction Education and Research and has completed NCCER training as a Construction Site Safety Supervisor, Construction Site Safety Technician, and in Safety Technology and Field Safety.

Rebecca’s professional experience includes over fourteen years in non-profit management and eight in economic development. Much of her work has been with or within the construction industry. Rebecca currently provides training in business, leadership, customer service and training trainers. She also teaches weatherization and industrial safety at Bridgemont.

Rebecca has been actively involved in a number of community boards and associations including Christmas in April and the Capital Market and currently serves on the Bridgemont Sustainability Council. She is the mother of three and spends her spare time enjoying the out-of-doors kayaking, hiking and fly fishing.

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Kimberly Knapp, M.S. 

 Instructor and Instructional Specialist

Kimberly Knapp serves Bridgemont Community and Technical College’s Workforce Development Department as an Instructional Specialist. In addition to teaching job readiness, computer applications, and business skills courses she is the coordinator of several workforce programs. Ms. Knapp has created courseware and has developed customized for- credit and non-credit programs for a wide array of industries.

Ms. Knapp graduated from West Virginia State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree and from Marshall University with a Master of Science in Adult and Technical Education. She holds 25 certifications in the areas of training, business, computer applications, and telecommunications. Prior to Joining the Workforce Development team in July, 2007 Ms. Knapp was a business owner providing workforce training and consulting across the tri-state area.  She also has several years of experience working as a certified technician in the telecommunications industry.

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Holly K. Clark   

Assistant Professor/Instructional Specialist

Bridgemont CTC’s Workforce Development Division is pleased to announce the addition of Holly Clark to their team.  Holly joins as an assistant professor/instructional specialist with over 16 years of project experience working with the manufacturing, healthcare, service, government, nonprofit and higher education sectors.

Holly earned bachelors and masters degrees in Industrial Management and Systems Engineering from West Virginia University and a Diploma of Digital Design from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

Holly has conducted business planning and feasibility studies to assess the viability of organizations, hosted training sessions, designed customer surveys, analyzed data, written summary reports and white papers, and managed a large-scale workforce needs assessment that identified existing and emerging training needs for the state of West Virginia.

In her most comprehensive project to date, Holly was, for eight years, the primary coordinator of 35 citizen-based community and economic development groups under West Virginia’s Vision Shared initiative. In that capacity, she acted as facilitator, manager, coordinator, and the project’s lead innovator. She successfully wrote numerous grants and secured private contributions netting over half a million dollars in operational revenue, and helped ensure creation of the state’s first angel investor network.

Holly also worked extensively with government as a key part of her efforts with Vision Shared. She managed the state legislature’s health care reform initiative, known as the Roadmap to Health Project, for which she received a State of West Virginia Legislative Citation in recognition of her hard work and dedication. She helped pass state policies designed to simplify the business permitting process, became an advocate for state and federal policy to improve the climate for entrepreneurship, and helped the West Virginia Development Office with design of the Certified Development Community program.

Holly’s professional interests include business market and feasibility research, team building, organizational learning, economic development, workforce development, as well as web and graphic design.

A native of Keyser, West Virginia, Holly now lives in Fayetteville where she founded the community development group, CREATE Fayetteville.  Her personal interests include rock climbing, sewing, reading, and traveling.  She also owns and operates three businesses: The Barn Loft (a bed and breakfast), Clark & Co, LLC (a consulting company) and Dot Designs (her freelance graphic design business).

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Kelly Jo Drey   

Director Bridgemont Sustainability Institute

Kelly Jo is the Director of the Bridgemont Sustainability Institute at Bridgemont Community and Technical College. She has a bachelor’s degree in Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree in Appalachian Studies and Sustainable Development from Appalachian State University.

Kelly Jo is passionate about sustainability and the positive impacts it will have for West Virginia businesses, residents, and communities. She leads BSI programs in the areas of economic development, academic enhancement, and community development. Kelly Jo also coordinates Sustainability Awareness Training for the Office of Workforce Development.

Kelly Jo has over ten years professional experience and has been working on West Virginia and Central Appalachia development issues since 2004. Her areas of expertise include watershed restoration, community engagement, habitat management, renewable energy, local food systems, non-profit administration, and asset-based planning. In her spare time, Kelly Jo is an avid outdoorswoman and beekeeper.

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Leigh Crystal

Instructional Specialist

Leigh Crystal joined Bridgemont Community and Technical College’s Workforce Development Department as an Instructional Specialist ready to provide training in residential weatherization.

Mr. Crystal graduated from the State University of New York with a Bachelor of Engineering degree.  He spent years working with custom environmental control systems and then in support of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program.  Home weatherization is a natural extension of his Mechanical Engineering skill set.  He has weatherized homes for low income families in WV completed the Energy Auditor course with Saturn Resource Management, Energy Rater Training I with Adena Energy and Environmental Consulting.  He is a certified Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) HERS Rater and certified National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) Instructor.

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Carol S. Coleman

DOH Certification Program Administrator & Administrative Assistant for Workforce Development

Carol is the DOH Certification Program Administrator and Administrative Assistant for Economic and Workforce Development.  She is a graduate of West Virginia Institute of Technology with an AS in Administrative Secretary.  She has 20 years of experience working for the State of West Virginia.

She is the mother of three and spends her spare time enjoying being with her grandchildren and out-of-doors working in the garden and on the river bank with her husband.

 

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Mike King

Community Education Program Coordinator

Mike King is a lifelong resident of Montgomery, West Virginia. He recently retired from a major electric utility company with over 38 years’ experience in this field. His job covered many aspects of the electrical industry, and he was and is a frequent team member developing safety and training programs for the industry.

Mike holds a West Virginia Commercial and Residential Masters Electrician License; a Diploma in Electrical Engineering with Power Option from ICS Scranton Pa. provides a consulting service for electric distribution installation in remote areas of Appalachia. In addition, he is a  member of the Bridgemont Workforce Development Team developing Community Education Classes.

Mike is one of the founding members of the Morris Creek Watershed Association serving as the chairperson on the Stream Restoration Committee and the VISTA supervisor for AmeriCorps. He also services as Vice President for the Appalachian Energy and Environment Partnership, the Utility Training Advisory Board for New River Community and Technical College, Mike is a First aid and CPR instructor as well as a Wilderness First-aid Instructor for the American Red Cross. He has extensive knowledge of West Virginia and surrounding states, having spent many hours in the Appalachians in his professional duties. Mike is also an avid outdoorsman, hunter and off road driving enthusiast.

Mike has been married to his girlfriend Wanda for the past 38 years; they have 3 children, Jamie, John and Christopher and 5 grandchildren. He and his family have a vested interest in the well being and future of our Region.