Beginning August 14, teams of workforce development partners from Wayne County began visiting local businesses to hear their challenges and successes related to finding and retaining high-quality employees
These visits are part of Gov. Pat McCrory’s “1,000 in 100” initiative announced last spring as part of NCWorks. “1,000 in 100” refers to the governor’s call to have local teams visit 1,000 businesses of all types in all 100 counties in the last 100 days of 2014.
“If we want to know what is working and what isn’t with our businesses, we have to talk to them directly,” McCrory said. “Our goal is to better understand how to meet their workforce needs and how to more effectively connect North Carolinians to great careers.”
The Wayne County effort is being led by Diane Ivey, executive director of the Wayne Business and Industry Center at Wayne Community College, and Tammy Childers, executive director of the Eastern Carolina Workforce Development Board, who serve as co-chairs, and includes representatives from Wayne County Development Alliance, Wayne County Schools, Wayne County Career Center/Division of Workforce Solutions, and Wayne Community College. The team has been meeting since July 30 and has selected both the companies for each visit as well as the teams to conduct the visits.
“This is a great opportunity for Wayne County to build on our past partnerships, get face-to-face with businesses, hear concerns, develop solutions and lay the foundation for how we work together in the future,” said Mrs. Ivey.
“We want to listen together so we can bring solutions and services together,” said Ms. Childers. “The end goal is to help both employers and employees.”
The “1,000 in 100” initiative will conclude at the end of 2014, but the information gathered will be paired with other research and best practices to develop recommendations for changes within North Carolina’s workforce system to better serve businesses and citizens.
“I appreciate all of our agencies and industry working together to make this a success,” McCrory said. “NCWorks covers all 100 counties so we need to listen in all 100 counties. This initiative is critical so we better understand what we need to do differently.”
NCWorks focuses on a new partnership that includes the N.C. Department of Commerce, the N.C. Community College System, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction and the NCWorks Commission to improve the state’s workforce system. Through the NCWorks initiative, partners will create a stronger alignment of services and resources to meet the workforce needs of businesses, connect North Carolinians to technical training and quality careers, and use data to monitor and assess program outcomes.
For more information about NCWorks, visit www.nccommerce.com/ncworks.
To learn more about the Wayne Business and Industry Center, contact Mrs. Ivey at (919) 739-7003.