Breaking Down Barriers to Empower Alliances Stuart Wasilowski Vice President, Corporate and Continuing Education South Piedmont Community College International Economic Development Council 2011 Annual Conference Charlotte, NC September 2011

Competing Interests Two Systems Two Perspectives Workforce Development Economic Development Origins War on PovertyLocal Competition for Business Funding FederalLocal/state Culture Human ServicesBusiness Objectives Access/EquityEconomic Growth Accountability Highly RegulatedLoose Regulation Programming Case Management ModelSales Model Measurement Job PlacementJob Creation Source: A Tale of Two Systems, Seedco Policy Center, 2009

Collaborative Interests Workforce Development Interests Higher Education Training Economic Development Interests

Skilled Workforce Technology Infrastructure Physical Infrastructure Business friendly environment Financial Capital Quality of Life Schools, Crime, Amenities The Building Blocks of a Competitive Community

Top factors determining Employer Site Selection  Availability of Skilled labor  Labor costs  Tax exemptions  State/Local incentives 2002  90.9%  89.9%  88.2%  88.0%  Area Development Magazine Survey of Site Selection consultants 2010  92.6%  96.8%  88.4%  96.8%

InvestmentReturn on Investment Training Investment 10% higher than industry average 8.6% higher than average productivity Capital Equipment Investment 10% higher than industry average 3.4% higher than average payoff from the capital investment Source: 21st Century Skills for 21st Century Jobs. Lisa Stuart/Emily Dahm The National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce Study Training Increases Productivity Training Investment vs Capital Investment

Training Investment Return on People “…each of these three portfolios out performed the S & P 500 by 17% to 35% in 2003.” Using 3 live portfolios made up of the stock in companies that “spent aggressively on employee development.” “…organizations that make extraordinary investment in people often enjoy extraordinary performance on a variety of indicators including shareholder return.” Source: Harvard Business Review, March 2004 Bassi/McMurrer

Success in NC - What we did  Engaged conversation - Understand training needs  Aligned programming/training  Aggressively pursued funding  Developed programs addressing specific demands  Continued to aggressively pursue funding  Leveraged existing industry cluster – Aerospace build on success  Are still continuing to aggressively pursue funding

Results  Strong relationship with our private sector partners  $12.0+ million grant application, $2.5+ million in funding for equipment/staff  7000 square foot facility in the heart of the local industrial park  400+ trained workers in industrial maintenance, CNC, manufacturing  Sales staff made more than 700 calls last year

Best practice  Positive, modest leadership  Open, consistent, persistent communication  Collaboration - We all win or we all lose  Understanding of the relationships between the two perspectives  Understanding of needs and demands  Higher Education needs to be more entrepreneurial  Higher Ed needs to understand their role in Economic Development