VGCC hosts regional Summit on Workforce Development Collaboration
Closer alignment between the needs of employers and the training offered at community colleges was the topic of a recent meeting hosted by Vance-Granville Community College. Presidents and other officials from Durham Technical Community College and Piedmont Community College joined their Vance-Granville colleagues, along with business, industry and economic development leaders, on Aug. 7 at a regional “ Align4NCWorks ” Learning Summit in the VGCC Civic Center.
Approximately 75 people attended, among them N.C. Rep. W. A. “Winkie” Wilkins of Roxboro and two members of the State Board of Community Colleges, Sam Powell and James Woody.
The event was the twelfth of 22 planned summits that the North Carolina Community College System is organizing across the state this year. Each one involves several of the 58 North Carolina community colleges and local workforce partners discussing collaborative workforce development projects. “ Align4NCWorks ” is the name for the community college system’s current strategic planning initiative.
In opening remarks, Dr. Scott Ralls, the president of the system, noted that workforce development is “not new for North Carolina community colleges; in fact, that is how we started.” The community colleges are designated by state law as “the primary lead agency for delivering workforce development training.” The purpose of the summit, Ralls said, was “to learn from great innovations and partnerships” at the local level, and to learn about challenges and barriers that need to be overcome in order for North Carolina’s workforce to be “number one in the nation.”
Each of the three colleges presented best practices involving collaborations with employers, K-12 schools or other agencies. VGCC’s presentation focused on the college’s Advanced Manufacturing Skills Center and Manufacturing Skills Training Alliance. Representing the college were Dr. Stelfanie Williams, VGCC’s president; Dr. Angela Ballentine, vice president of academic and student affairs; and Eddie Ferguson, endowment director and former director of industry services. As Ferguson explained, VGCC has worked with Career and Technical Education high school programs from Vance County Schools, Granville County Schools, Franklin County Schools and Warren County Schools to prepare local students and workers for manufacturing-related careers. Area manufacturers give ongoing input and guidance to the educational partners, and offer work-based learning experiences for students such as apprenticeships and internships.
“Vance-Granville has been blessed with industry partners who value a well-educated workforce,” Ferguson said. Employers involved in the Manufacturing Skills Training Alliance include Altec Industries of Creedmoor; Amcor of Youngsville; Bridgestone Commercial Solutions (Bandag) of Oxford; Glen Raven, Inc. of Norlina; Iams of Henderson; Palziv of Louisburg; and Shalag of Oxford.
“We will close the ‘skills gap’ and grow jobs only by collaborating with employers,” Ferguson added. “We have to learn from each other; we are not islands off to ourselves.” He said that numerous grants received by the college have allowed the partners to develop various advanced manufacturing programs and partnerships. These include grants awarded by the Golden LEAF Foundation , Duke Energy Foundation , U.S. Department of Labor , the North Carolina Education and Workforce Innovation Commission , the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission’s Project Skill-Up , and the N.C. Community College System’s NC Back-to-Work program .
Dr. Ralls praised VGCC’s “remarkable success at securing grants” and said he was “impressed” by VGCC’s presentation. He noted that Vance-Granville has historically been one of the state’s leaders in workforce development, recalling that the BioWork training program for the biotechnology industry began at VGCC before it was implemented across North Carolina.
Following the colleges’ best practices reports, Dr. Matthew Meyer, associate vice president for STEM Innovations at the N.C. Community College System, facilitated a discussion in which he asked attendees to identify the workforce challenges they face and the needs for better public-private partnerships.
Above: N.C. Community College System President Dr. Scott Ralls (left) listens as VGCC Endowment director Eddie Ferguson answers a question during the Align4NCWorks Summit. (VGCC photo)
