Regional leaders discuss options for joint workforce development

By Lisa Majors-Duff

Barlow was one of several speakers last Friday in Cherokee to discuss challenges as they relate to economic development in Western North Carolina. Western Carolina University Chancellor John Bardo called the region "the hole in the economic doughnut" because WNC sits within three hours of 9 million people and 12,000 high tech businesses, most of which are not located here, he said.

"We need to turn WNC into the economic Danish," Bardo said. "We can do the right things to keep people here."

In addition to new, high-tech programs being offered to students at WCU, the university is continuing its tradition of assuring the region has the best teachers, he said.

"Without the region's children being prepared, they are never going to be able to work," the chancellor said.

"I think all of us want to keep our children at home," Gordon Myers, chairman emeritus of N.C. Citizens for Business and Industry, told the group. "In order to do that, we've got to grow jobs here."

WNC leads the nation in the loss of manufacturing, textile and furniture jobs, Myers said. In addition, the state is facing one of the worst budget shortfalls in its history.

"I know when North Carolina comes out of this, we will be much stronger," he said. "I also know our workforce will look different than it did 10 years ago."

Myers's recommendations for enhancing the area's workforce also centered on improvements in the region's schools.

"We need improved school curriculums in K-12," he said. "We need to start our kids early."

Myers added that participation from the business community is a must to let the schools know what skills are most needed in future employees. "Most will tell you they need kids coming out of school ready to work," he said.

"Nothing is any more important in WNC today than workforce development - how we educate our future workers and re-educate the workforce that has put out of work with no marketable skills, " Myers said. "As leaders, it's our obligation to help those who cannot help themselves."

At lightning speed, Barlow took summit participants from Jackson, Macon and Swain counties and the reservation through a series of PowerPoint slides designed to enlighten area leaders about the future.

"Things are constantly changing," he said, "and people will change when the pain of change is less than remaining the same."

It's leadership's responsibility to do a better job of getting people involved and engaged, Barlow told the audience.

A region's success and economic vitality will be directly related to its ability to attract, maintain and celebrate diversity, said Barlow, who used Asheville as an example of an city that has revived itself by creating a community in tune with today's workforce.

During a working lunch, leaders divided themselves into groups to discuss six strategies for enhancing in the area's workforce: community and cultural aspirations, diversity, education, leadership, productivity and competitiveness, and collaboration.

The result was a resolution of cooperation and collaboration signed by the chairmen of each county's boards of commissioners and Tribal Chief Leon Jones. The document states that "matters of mutual interest or concern can best be addressed through joint planning in order to accomplish together what no single unit could as effectively accomplish alone" and that the "realization of goals and projects which are vital to Jackson, Macon and Swain counties and the Eastern Band is contingent upon the development and maintenance of a robust regional economy and also the safeguarding of our region's unique quality of life."

The resolution calls for semi-annual meetings of the governmental units to continue discussions.

Back to Archive: 09/26/02.