Nash County partnerships offer workforce development and customized training

With new technology comes new training — and as new processes and procedures are introduced in industries across every sector, it's critical for employees to understand how to properly and efficiently carry out their daily responsibilities.

Workforce development refers to a business or company's focus on refining its employee's tools and skillsets. In doing so, companies help individuals become more productive and knowledgeable, which stimulates not only the business itself but also the local economy as a whole.

In Nash County, the local community college partners with companies to provide customized training and workforce development. Through working with the county's economic development department, Nash Community College is able to identify unique local opportunities and adjust its offerings to suit those industries.

"The training we offer can be anything from annual training for safety standards to training in a specific skill that they need. We also have customized training projects that we work with the [North Carolina] Community College System office to provide. That can be in area industries, such as job growth, productivity enhancement, or technology investment, where they need a lot of training to either skill up their employees or to train new employees who are just coming on the job," said Melissa Vandemark, director of corporate training at Nash Community College. "The funding for customized training projects comes from the N.C. Community College System Office through the way of the legislative office for the state of North Carolina, so the trainings that we do are usually at little cost to the industry."

With a convenient location just off U.S. Highway 64 Bypass and U.S. Interstate 95, the college is easily accessible to companies across the county and beyond. The campus includes a Continuing Education and Public Services building, with specialized training spaces like an eight-lane indoor firing range used for law enforcement training, as well as an aseptic cleanroom. The campus also has an Advanced Manufacturing building, a Cosmetology building, a Science and Technology building and the Business and Industry Center, among other facilities.

For decades, local businesses have had positive results after partnering with Nash Community College. In a newer partnership, the Jay Group, a Rocky Mount-based shoe liquidator and wholesaler of branded and non-branded goods, employees have been able to participate in workforce development via the college.

While they've only had one type of class so far, the Jay Group is looking into further educational opportunities and customized training with NCC.

"We've been looking to do an OSHA course, then some more general things like professionalism in the workplace. We're also going to be working with the college to develop a custom curriculum that includes more in-depth on the job training, as well as offering employees more developmental opportunities — like classes for our supervisors to be able to work on coaching and constructive criticism," said Jill Gretter, vice president of operations at the Jay Group. "We are very supportive of promoting within and along with that, helping employees learn to manage individuals who used to be peers. In the first year of classes, we just scratched the surface, so we're really working on further development."

Not only is NCC's training ideal for businesses that already have a base in Nash County, but it's also a useful tool in recruiting new companies to the area. Since Nash County is positioned immediately east of the Raleigh-Durham area and offers easy access up and down the East Coast, it is a major hub for a wide variety of industries.

In fact, the county has been working to develop new industrial parks to accommodate growth, with development on the Middlesex Corporate Center just wrapping up. The new business park offers 340 acres and a 62,500-square-foot shell building that's expandable up to 100,000 square feet, all within 20 minutes of downtown Raleigh.

With further commercial sites and building construction in the works, the county is prepared to welcome business both large and small, and NCC is equally prepared to offer the customized training that those businesses require.

"We have many different types of training, and we customize this training for individual companies — anybody that manufacturers, whether it's a small mom-and-pop shop such as George's Barbecue Sauce or a large plant like Cummins Rocky Mount Engine Plant or Honeywell, benefit from training at NCC. Some companies need training on specific machines, and we can work with the manufacturer of that machine to help get them that specific training," said Vandemark. "We also have training partners like the BioNetwork and regional trainers that we use from the N.C. Community College System to provide specialized training for a host of companies."

For the workforce already in Nash County, courses at the community college not only help increase skills relevant to their position, but can also help with overall personal and professional development — adding another notch to the overall quality of life in the area.

"We have a lot of people that come from a bunch of diverse backgrounds, and even though we've always done our own forklift certifications, it was helpful to be able to put them into a classroom setting and pay them for that time. Being able to make that investment on the front end was a big deal for a lot of those individuals," said Gretter. "It was also one of the first opportunities we've had where we were basically saying, 'Hey, we're going to pay you to help build out your resume. We're going to pay to help show that you're increasing your skillset and that you're working on your own personal development.'"

"It's a great program that offers a lot of benefits to companies. Given the opportunity, Nash County provides a great life for employees and a work-life balance that other big cities may not be able to offer," added Vandemark. "We like to grow our own workforce and do what we can to keep them here. In doing so, we're able to produce companies that make a great impact on our community."