Piedmont Community College (PCC) representatives and other workforce development partners recently completed their “1,000 in 100” efforts, visiting 10 employers in Person County and another 10 in Caswell County. The visits were part of Gov. Pat McCrory’s NCWorks initiative focusing on “connecting North Carolina jobs with North Carolina people.”
The initiative, billed as a “listening and learning opportunity, was repeated across the state in a comprehensive effort to better align North Carolina’s workforce system partners with the needs of employers seeking to hire and employees seeking jobs.
The teams visited six manufacturers, two business services, and two hospitality/entertainment venues in Person County and two manufacturers and eight service businesses in Caswell County. Participants were interviewed to learn more about their companies related to their hiring and training needs, work-based learning, governmental barriers, workforce development, and knowledge of the workforce system partners including NCWorks online. The information provided by interviews will be compiled with additional research collected earlier from the NC Employer Needs Survey to form the basis for possible policy, guidelines, and structural changes to how the state delivers workforce services across the state.
“The collaborative effort among the agencies to visit and learn more about the companies was a rewarding experience,” said Debra Seamster, PCC Director, NCWorks Customized Training Program and Interim Director, Small Business Center. “The companies appreciated our visit as well as the information we provided about services available to them.”
In addition to Seamster, other PCC participants included Dr. Doris Carver, Vice President, Continuing Education, who co-chaired the team; Brad Jordan, Dean, Corporate and Occupational Training; and Tommiann Hill, Dean, Workforce Development.
Other workforce development partners were represented by Lou Grillo, Business Services Representative, and Vincent Gilreath, Workforce Development Director, Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments, who co-chaired team with Dr. Carver; Stuart Gilbert, Person County Economic Development Director; Monica Satterwhite, Manager, NC Department of Commerce/Division of Workforce Solutions; Angela Davis ISD Functional Manager and Russell Ingram, Talent Employer Solutions, NCWorks Career Center powered by Kerr-Tar Workforce Development Board; Bryan Miller, Caswell County Manager; Sharon Sexton, Director, Caswell County Chamber of Commerce; and Tracey Dellinger, Regional Economic Developer-Existing Industry, NC Department of Commerce.
The goal of the initiative is to ensure strategic alignment and collaboration in developing an integrated approach for delivery of state and local workforce development services.
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