Supply chains, jobs and their required skills are changing across sectors as the world transitions to a greener, more climate-resilient economy. This is transforming the global workforce, a dynamic that’s on clear display in North Carolina, U.S.
In recent years, North Carolina, including the ‘Research Triangle’ of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, has attracted more students, businesses and jobs to the state. Many of these jobs are in manufacturing or advanced manufacturing — part of a larger trend across the U.S. as technological advances and federal and state tax incentives increase manufacturing jobs in areas like electric vehicles and renewable energy.
However, as companies open or expand their operations in North Carolina and elsewhere, they may face challenges building up their workforces. These companies may not have existing networks in the region that provide the type of worker training or reskilling that they need. Wolfspeed, an American semiconductor technology creator, and VinFast, a Vietnam-based automotive company dedicated to getting electric vehicles in the U.S. market, are two new companies shaping the workforce needs in Lee County, N.C.
Central Carolina Community College (CCCC) in Lee County is one local institution working with partner initiatives to help address the needs of the community’s changing workforce. The college’s E. Eugene Moore Center, a new hub for advanced manufacturing and biotechnology training, will represent a new chapter in how students and their future or current employers are investing in the development of their skills.
WRI traveled to Lee County in April 2024 to conduct interviews with education professionals and economic development experts in the area. The interviews offered insights into how the community is collaborating to ensure interested students and employers are able to address workforce needs in the region.
Educating the Future Manufacturing Workforce
The Moore Center aims to provide students with the training and skills required for manufacturing jobs by collaborating directly with employers in the region. The college engages with approximately 80 businesses, ranging from small enterprises with 12 employees to larger enterprises with up to 2,000 employees. “Workforce and the availability of workforce is absolutely at the top of every employer’s mind,” says Lisa Chapman, President of Central Carolina Community College.
Bridging the Advanced Manufacturing Skills Gap
One key focus of the training programs at the Central Carolina Community College is ensuring that local people have equal access to new, well-paying jobs in the manufacturing and advanced manufacturing sector. That means creating opportunities for students who may have faced higher barriers accessing such jobs in the past, including Black and Indigenous communities, women and those with nontraditional education backgrounds, among others.
Advance NC — an initiative across 19 counties in North Carolina that is comprised of 11 community colleges, seven workforce boards and three universities — and is focused on creating opportunities for residents in the advanced manufacturing space. The initiative aims to create a dialogue between employers in the region and the members of Advanced NC. Employers can share their current workforce needs, allowing the group to collectively respond about the best ways to recruit, train and establish career paths. This can happen through the efforts of a community college, a university or a combination of entities.
By participating in an initiative that can train many individuals in such a collaborative way, North Carolina and Central Carolina Community Colleges are creating an ecosystem where businesses, research, and communities can thrive.
A Regional Response to Workforce Needs
Companies moving into North Carolina, including VinFast and Wolfspeed, can create thousands of new jobs — not only in their facilities but also for the local businesses and suppliers they rely on. This can include everything from motor parts manufacturers to office cleaners, electricians and hospitality workers. However, it can be expensive for companies to build up their workforce, especially if they do not have pre-existing pipelines of talent. In addition to finding a qualified workforce, large companies that are moving into new areas also have challenges engaging with smaller service or business providers to meet their needs. This could include finding the right chip manufacturer for a technology company or finding a trusted landscaper to service a company’s buildings.
The Chatham Economic Development Corporation (the lead economic development agency for Chatham County which is part of the Research Triangle region) is working to connect large businesses with small businesses by convening meetings with the local community. “One of the things that we’ve been working on recently is … thinking about all of the companies coming into North Carolina [and] how we have a regional response,” says Michael Smith, President of Chatham Economic Development Corporation. Addressing each piece of this economic development puzzle can benefit everyone involved, creating opportunities for workers, local businesses and communities to thrive.
Special thank you to Margaret Roberton, Lisa Chapman, Michael Smith, Lorraine Whitaker, Thomas White, Christopher Brown, Bill Dugan and Flavio Galvao.
