The Task
aT hand
S p e c i a l a d v e r t i S i n g S e c t i o n :Workforce Development
74 B u s i n e s s n o r t h C a r o l i n a
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n 1957, when the GeneralAssem-bly formed a network of Industrial Education Centers to provide customized vocational training, legislators weren’t thinking about teaching people to prepare quick-cured striped bass and fennel-and-lime salad with pickled mustard sauce. But in today’s diverse economy, workforce development means educating not just
tradespeople, such as welders and mechanics, but culinary-arts students like Drew McCloud at Asheville-Bun-combe Technical Community College. His striped-bass creation helped the college win the top prize in the North Carolina State Student Culinary Compe-tition this winter.
Growing along with and directly supporting Asheville’s bustling hospitality
industry, including its sizzling restaurant scene, the AB Tech culinary arts and hospitality program is earning a reputa-tion for producing excepreputa-tionally well-prepared graduates while offering one of the most affordable culinary educa-tions in the area. McCloud, who had previous experience at the exclusive Grove Park Inn in Asheville, has already been offered a job at the world-famous
From energy to NASCAR, workforce-development programs target local
A leader in workforce development and corporate training, GTCC through its Center for Business & Industry has been selected as the lead college in North Carolina to partner with Global Corporate College (GCC). GCC, founded by leaders of entrepreneurial colleges and universities, partners with accredited academic institutions to provide the best learning support services and industry practices.
The Center for Business & Industry can deliver training solutions to clients with local, national, and international footprints. Training may be delivered in a location and on a schedule that is convenient for business operations and availability. CBI trainers are qualified subject-matter experts with real world experience and skills in a variety of organizations, businesses, and industries.
What are your needs? From business writing and financial skills to social media and OSHA training, CBI can help your associates gain the skills and knowledge necessary to compete in today’s global economy.
TRAIN. COMPETE. SUCCEED.
THE FUTURE IS GLOBAL
GUILFORD TECHNICAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE
S p e c i a l a d S e c t i o n :Workforce Development
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Le Bernardin restaurant in New York City after working there during winter break. With more than 40 students expected to graduate with their two-year associate degrees in May, McCloud’s is one of the largest classes in the program’s history, chairwoman Bronwen McCormick says.
“It was a response to what the community was asking for,” McCormick says. “It’s the role of a community college to support business and train employees for the industries they serve.”
Fifty years after the Industrial Education Centers evolved into the first of the state’s 58 community colleges, North Carolina offers more diverse workforce-development programs than ever. And with the national economy still sputtering, vocational education is becoming a hot topic. In his State of the Union speech Jan. 24, President Barack Obama called for a “national commitment to train 2 million Americans with skills that will lead directly to a job.” He cited the example of formerly out-of-work mechanic Jackie Bray, who received specialized training in lasers and robotics at Central Piedmont Commu-nity College in Charlotte for a new job at the local factory of Siemens Energy Inc., a subsidiary of Germany-based Siemens AG. This spring the company will complete a $150 million gas-tur-bine manufacturing expansion in the Queen City and will more than double employment to 1,800. In 15 months, CPCC conducted more than 600 classes for Siemens’ new hires and existing employees who needed refresher courses, says Michelle Miller, the school’s executive director of corporate learning and economic recruitment. “Manufac-turing is our largest client base, and a lot of that is for the energy industry.”
In response to the recession, each community college identified “pro-grams of opportunity” in their geo-graphic areas and responded by
providing two-year degrees, diplomas or certification programs that cater to local clientele, says Scott Ralls, presi-dent of the N.C. Community College System. “We have more programs that allow students to gain certificates and professional certifications than most other states.” This year, the system is redesigning curricula for technical training programs based on suggestions from the National Association of Manufacturers, resulting in even more certifications and credentials available in fields such as machining, construc-tion technology, industrial engineering and transportation. Colleges will have the option of tweaking course work to meet local employers’ needs.
With the growth of aviation and aerospace, particularly in the east and Triad regions, community colleges offer more aircraft-manufacturing and -maintenance programs geared toward military and civilian companies. Craven Community College established an Aeronautical Technology Training Center at its Havelock-Cherry Point campus, part of an aviation-systems technology program in which students learn skills needed to repair Navy and Marine helicopters at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. Lenoir Community College in Kinston offers associate of applied science degrees in aerostructure manu-facturing and maintenance, preparing students for careers in civilian-aircraft manufacturing and repair. College of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City and Guilford Technical Community College in Greens-boro also have strong programs in aircraft-maintenance technology and aviation-systems technology, respectively.
Enrollment in community colleges statewide has increased 37% since the recession deepened in 2008 — the biggest growth spurt in the system’s history — all while state funding decreased about 21%. However state funds to technical training and work-force-development programs were
S p e c i a l a d v e r t i S i n g S e c t i o n :Workforce Development
Providing Workforce Training in
Eastern NC for over 50 Years
www.pittcc.edu
“Pitt Community College assisted us with matching prospective employees skills to our current job openings as well as providing pre-employment training. This partnership has saved us time and money and is a win-win situation.” – Sandy Phillips, HR Manager
The Roberts Company “Pitt Community College helped
us identify the foundational skills needed for our entry level positions as well as match prospective employee skills to our openings. This provided us with qualified applicants.”
– Leo Corbin, Director of HR Attends Healthcare Products
“PCC helped us identify our specific training needs and also provided an excellent training program! They tailored a program specifically to our needs and delivered a top-notch training program that exceeded our expectations!”
– Mike Shreves, Training Manager NACCO Materials Handling Group
preserved throughout the recession to focus on expanding the state’s skilled labor pool and help the unemployed find jobs.
For instance, displaced and unem-ployed workers can get diplomas and certifications faster through acceler-ated course work funded by the state’s JobsNOW program. “We paid close attention to job areas where we saw skill gaps before the recession and job opportunities,” Ralls says. At Fayette-ville Technical Community College, JobsNOW funds eight- to 10-week training courses for certified nursing assistants, geriatric aides, medical-office workers, phlebotomists and solar-panel installers and in plumbing and heating, ventilation and air condition-ing — jobs that were still in demand during the recession.
Johnston Community College’s Project Skill-UP is paid for by a grant
from the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission to retrain workers who lost tobacco-related jobs. Displaced employ-ees enroll in the Workforce Develop-ment Center in Clayton to learn basic employability skills, such as computer training, resume writing and interview-ing, and have the option to train in fields with higher employment rates including health care, truck driving, industrial maintenance and pharmaceu-ticals. Instruction in small-business development is also available. Now in its fourth year, the program has gradu-ated about 125.
The federal Workforce Investment Act, tasked with improving the quality of the nation’s workforce and increas-ing employment, also funds programs at community colleges. At Nash Community College in Rocky Mount, it provides training and support in accounting, architecture, engineering,
manufacturing, maintenance and repair, communications, computers, construction, health care, office and administrative support and truck driving. Open only to economically disadvantaged adults in Nash County, it offers financial assistance for tuition, books and fees and provides child care, transportation, paid on-the-job training and assists in job searches.
Instruction in health care has been particularly popular, mainly because it’s a growing industry that has a wide range of employment opportunities. Pitt Community College in Greenville received a federal grant to educate workers in health information technol-ogy, part of which digitizes medical records. Job opportunities in the field are growing, especially because the federal government provides financial incentives to hospitals and practices that convert records.
S p e c i a l a d S e c t i o n :
Johnston Community College provides economical, customized train-ing designed to fit business and industry needs as well as offertrain-ing courses to meet the needs of individuals seeking to enhance skills in the ever-changing workplace.
www.johnstoncc.edu
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The community-college system also has bolstered its training in biotech-nology to support the state’s burgeon-ing life-sciences industry, preparburgeon-ing workers for jobs at research laborato-ries and pharmaceutical companies. BioNetwork, which has seven training centers at community colleges across the state, aligns its instruction with industry needs. Launched by the community-college system in 2005, it’s funded by Golden LEAF, the non-profit that uses money from the state’s settlement with tobacco manu-facturers to support economic develop-ment. Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh houses the net-work’s Capstone Center, which trains students in biotechnology and biomanu-facturing. “We rely on industry leaders to provide input on the type of training they need and the skills their workers must have to succeed,” Director Ana McClanahan says.
A hallmark of North Carolina’s workforce-development efforts are classes that train workers for specific companies. During the 2009-10 academ-ic year, such programs spent $8 million to educate about 16,346 workers at 590 companies. “A lot of times, a custom-ized training program leads to curricu-lum development,” says Linda Weiner, vice president of engagement and strategic innovation for the community-college system.
Edgecombe Community College is trying to give local employers and their workers a leg up by offering an Innovative Problem Solving with I-TRIZ class, which began in September at its Tarboro campus. It’s the first community college in the state to offer the pro-gram. Much like Six Sigma, a popular business-management strategy, I-TRIZ — an acronym for a Russian phrase that translates to “theory of inventive problem solving” — is intended to strengthen problem solving and improve organizational efficiency.
Workforce Development
• Changing Lives
• Supporting our Service Men and Women, Veterans, and their Families
• Improving Communities
• Enhancing Economic Development
www.faytechcc.edu
Fayetteville Technical Community College:
through Education for Life
• Changing Lives
• Supporting our Service Men and Women, Veterans, and their Families
• Improving Communities
• Enhancing Economic Development
Fayetteville Technical Community College:
through Education for Life
www.faytechcc.edu M a r C h 2 0 1 2
In Winston-Salem, Forsyth Technical Community College recently opened its Transportation Technology Center. At 139,000 square feet, it houses the automotive systems, heavy equipment and transport, recreational-vehicle maintenance and repair, collision repair and refinishing and motorcycle-mainte-nance programs. It’s also home to the Richard Childress Race Car Technology program, named after the Welcome-based owner of one of NASCAR’s premier racing teams. He gave his name and financial support to the program after realizing he employed 21 gradu-ates. The two-year degree in race-car technology requires 76 credit hours for graduation, the maximum allowed in the community-college system. The 40-student program usually has a waiting list.
“We cover every aspect, from the chassis and rear differential to the gear box and engines,” program director Randy Butner says. “A lot of programs just deal with the body or the engines.” Courses teach students to assemble race engines, fabricate car chassis and sheet metal, weld, and assemble and tune cars for racing. The program evolves along with racing rules, adding instruction in areas such as fuel-injection technology, new this year to NASCAR.
Preston Gilliam has a bachelor’s in business from East Carolina University and was studying for his master’s in marketing when he started the race-car technology program. “Everything I knew was from reading books. I was trying to catch up with guys that their whole family had been in racing.” Eventually he hopes to own a company that converts street cars into high-per-formance race cars but wants to first work with engines at a company that builds hot rods. “The knowledge of tools alone you get here can help you get a lot of jobs. It’s not really simple, but it’s very practical.”
