education

A-B Tech’s Advanced Manufacturing Center is a division of continuing education and specific workforce training programs that don’t provide a degree, but instead provide students with skills that are directly applicable to their job.

Kimrey said there are two main components of this division — open enrollment and customized training programs. Open enrollment means that anyone can sign up for classes such as Fundamentals of Machining or Industrial Maintenance that help students develop a mechanical aptitude. Customized training programs are a direct connection to industries in the area offering training to an incumbent workforce.

“I always ask what’s keeping them up at night,” Kimrey said. “It could be quality problems in their process or a need for professional and leadership development for new supervisor training or specific safety concerns. We then build the project training plan, and we are constantly in touch with the company with status update meetings.”

There has been a slow and steady growth of the student body year after year, and in the fall of 2022, Appalachian State University saw a 25% spike in applications. Gillan said the University’s athletic programs have helped to boost the University’s popularity and offer a point of engagement and pride for its students. “It’s a chance for alumni and students to enjoy events that they are passionate about,” Gillan said. “It increases their level of engagement while they are here as well as when they leave. People remember these events fondly and continue to talk about them years down the road.”

Custom Training Programs for Manufacturing Funnel Students Directly Into the Workforce

Asheville-Buncombe Technical College’s Director of Economic and Workforce Development Kevin Kimrey said the college’s workforce training programs play a role in recruiting companies to Western North Carolina by connecting with businesses and industries in a variety of ways.

“Customized training programs place people right into the workforce,” Kimrey said. “Our program builds programs that are funded by the state and free to companies, and I was told this is part of the deciding factor for businesses coming to the area. It’s because they know we have the ability to train their workforce.”

There are currently customized training programs for 10 local businesses including Arcadia Beverage Company, BorgWarner, and Pratt & Whitney, according to Kimrey. Programs like these are available statewide at all 58 community colleges, and A-B Tech has always been prolific in that program. He said though it is the ninth-largest community college in the state, the key metrics of the program have the school tracking right behind Wake Technical Community College, the largest in the state.

Manufacturing companies work with A-B Tech to develop these educational programs when they are adding to their workforce, adding a new product to manufacture, or working to increase their productivity, according to Kimrey. They either reach out directly to the college or through the state, then Kimrey and his team perform an in-depth analysis and build the project’s training plan.

While A-B Tech’s customized training programs help prepare students to directly enter the workforce, the program’s equipment may not be exactly the same as the company’s. Specific manufacturing equipment may be extremely large and some processes are proprietary Kimrey said in general, the programs determine what the company’s processes are and how they are making what they are making, and the program sets up a similar process with similar equipment to teach students the fundamentals.

An average of about 1,000 students per year move through programs like these directly into the workforce from A-B Tech, according to Kimrey. They are busier than ever before, and there will be about 1,500 students within these programs this year, some of whom are already in the workforce.

While the majority of A-B Tech’s students are local, between 10% and 15% of the student population is coming from outside of the region. “Announcements like Pratt & Whitney’s arrival to the area heightens that interest,” he said.

Pratt & Whitney is one company that has a Pre-Hire program with the college, according to Kimrey. People can apply with Pratt & Whitney, and upon a screening, applicants are sent to A-B Tech for assessments and training. Students may get a conditional offer of employment, then after 80 hours of training, they are able to officially enter the workforce.

Kimrey said the types of projects created by the Advanced Manufacturing Center at A-B Tech are very cyclical. “Things that were very popular may cycle out in two or three years,” he said. “There are continuous improvements in things like leadership, professional development, and safety, and technology changes every day. It’s advanced a lot since I started this work 10 years ago.”

One trend Kimrey is noticing is more companies investing in machinery to automate their processes. “This is still creating jobs because you have to have people programming all these robots,” he said. “Companies are also moving

“From skilled trades to healthcare to technology and manufacturing, we are doing a good service to train people to get them right into the workforce or starting at a community college for a four-year or higher degree.”

Unique Entrepreneurship Program Helps Create Business-Ready Students

Since 2015, Western Carolina University’s Corporation for Entrepreneurship and Innovation has been partnering students,

Businesses can apply for consideration and share projects that they could use help with, then if a good fit is determined, Creasy creates the connection to a faculty member who will select an appropriate number of students to work with the business on those projects.

WCU is accredited through the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, and the University must have a level of engagement to receive that accreditation. “We use the CEI, which is housed under the College of Business, as part of that engagement,” he said. “We want to be a good community partner and help to get students business-ready.”

Types of businesses interacting with the CEI vary widely. Current partners include businesses such as a care center, moss grower, retreat center, magnet maker, a video arcade hangout for teens, and a wellness company. Their projects range from trademark application, tweaking software, performing SWOT analyses, and helping to determine things like price points, viability, and how to increase ratings.

“Businesses can benefit from students helping with these analyses,” Creasy said. “They can use the funding and students to turn their concept into a product because they get help with product development, patent investigation and filing, and getting ideas to potential angel investors.”

Creasy tries to go to a variety of business gatherings including conferences and Chamber of Commerce and Rotary events in order to bring awareness of the program to local businesses. He said the CEI also hosts its own biannual conferences — one focused on Jackson and Haywood Counties and the other focused on Buncombe and Henderson Counties — which feature business experts sharing advice with small businesses.

Students get great benefits too, according to Creasy. Not only are they gaining direct experience with real, local businesses, he said they also get paid for their efforts.

“We’ve had entire teams get hired by these employers, and students routinely get hired by these companies upon graduation,” he said. “It also looks great on a resume. There are indirect benefits for the students too as faculty bring this experience into the classroom; it’s all got ripples that are very interesting.”

The success of the program is gauged by client surveys posing a variety of questions, according to Creasy. Their responses help tell the story of the program’s success, and the vast majority of clients are very satisfied.

Each project’s duration is over a semester, and participating students give a presentation reviewing these projects upon completion. “They are very professionally done,” Creasy said. “Students prepare a report and present their findings, and the clients have some say in the student’s grade. It’s another measure of the program’s success.”

The CEI is just one of the ways the University prepares students to become business-ready, according to Creasy. Students in the University’s College of Business are offered a variety of business degrees to choose from, including a bachelor’s and a master’s focused on Entrepreneurship. Creasy said classes are designed to teach students things like how to build a business plan, perform market analysis, build a lending plan, acquire venture capital, and more.

The “intrapreneur” aspect is another perspective taught in these programs. Creasy said even if a student decides to work for a large company, they can look for ways to do things differently. As an employee, they could look at developing a new product or service within the company. “It teaches you to think differently,” he said.

Afterschool Programs Support Existing and Rising Workforces

Afterschool programs play a major role in the lives of working families, according to NC Center for Afterschool Programs Director Elizabeth Anderson.

Anderson describes afterschool programs as safe places for children while their families are working, providing peace of mind for parents and extended learning experiences for students. NC CAP works with all kinds of quality enrichment programs around the state including those focused on sports, academics, arts, STEM, and more.

“We act as a convener,” Anderson said. “We try to bring together out-of-school time stakeholders to discuss the many issues. We hold an annual Synergy Conference that brings together a variety of affiliated professionals in the sector, and are creating regional convening opportunities as well.”

In WNC, NC CAP is working with Dogwood Health Trust to learn what programming is currently available in order to help fill in the gaps, especially in rural areas. The organization also conducts research to outline best practices and determine what best supports the field with other entities such as public school alliances. NC CAP also acts as a catalyst advocating policy issues supporting afterschool and childcare policies and the way programs are supported and funded to help families be able to afford them.

Currently, programs are funded in a variety of ways, according to Anderson. Large organizations including the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and 21st Century Community Learning Centers as well as the Department of Public Instruction help fund many public afterschool programs. Private afterschool programs may charge tuition, though with the high cost of offering high-quality programming and care, many of these programs are also supplementally funded through grants or private funders to make the rates affordable for working families.

According to the NC Afterschool Alliance, the average cost of paid programs is $109 per week. Part of the Child Care Development Fund, the Child Care and Development Block Grant helps provide childcare and afterschool service funding for working low-income families with children up to age 13. Increasing each year since 2014, the national fund is estimated to provide $8.02 billion in 2023, with $239,522,789 of those funds going to families in NC.

While there are many existing programs, the demand for afterschool programming is rising in North Carolina. According to Anderson, for every child currently enrolled, there are three waiting for an available spot. That number increases in rural areas — for every child enrolled, four are waiting. The NC Afterschool Alliance reports that 47% of children in rural communities would participate in an afterschool program if there was one available.

“Afterschool programs are not accessible to everyone,” Anderson said. “We are working in advocacy and capacitybuilding so that more people who want to be enrolled can be. Barrier issues include availability, cost, and transportation, and particularly in Western North Carolina, the geographic availability and lack of available transportation, especially for parents working second shifts or long hours, this is a huge challenge.”

More than providing care for children of working parents, afterschool programs provide high-quality opportunities for children to develop workforce skills, according to Anderson. Many programs are adjusting to the need by offering chances to learn these skills through STEM activities and experiential learning.

“Outside of the classroom, this work is not graded,” Anderson said. “It’s a ‘lower-stakes’ environment where kids can explore different roles and interests. For example, students can go through the scientific process and develop a hypothesis and maybe fail, but they’ll feel less nervous about it. By the time they graduate, they will have had a chance to try on a bunch of different hats to help them decide what it is they want to do next.”

Anderson said there are some programs directly linked to a variety of specific local industries, and there is room for more of those. There is a STEM Asset Mapping Database that acts as a hub with curriculum and lessons that can be implemented. There is a focus on resources, research, careers, and engagement, and this online tool highlights local STEM assets which programs, schools, families, and communities can leverage to engage students in STEM activities.

Some business entities can help support partners such as higher education facilities, libraries, and museums, according to Anderson. Businesses support a lot of these, and since they know exactly what skills their desired workforce needs to develop, businesses that can help build programs specific to those can be lifechanging.

“This is a great space for businesses to get involved,” Anderson said. “Whether volunteering particular skills, activities, or mentorship opportunities, partnering with afterschool programs is a great way to get involved in the community while helping to groom rising talent to the workforce.”

Business Resources: Education

North Carolina Business Committee for Education

Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2023, the North Carolina Business Committee for Education is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization focused on making connections between education systems and employers within a variety of industries. The NCBCE works mostly with public and public charter schools, and works at a high level with the state’s community college system. With the help of Fidelity Investments, the NCBCE provides employer-posted career spotlights, guest speakers, engaging activities, and early career awareness, making it easier for teachers to connect to employers. Learn more at NCBCE.org.

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction provides information and resources to individuals in the education industry including educator preparation, recognition programs, licensure, professional development, national board certification, and specialized instructional support. Opportunities for funding, schools, students, as well as data analysis and reporting are also available.

Learn more at DPI.NC.gov.

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Find a comprehensive list of resources for businesses and organizations of all types at WNCBusiness.com/Resources.