NEWS
For
Immediate Release
February 14, 2014
CONTACT: Jessica Bursenos,
Web Content Manager
Release No: REVISED
- 08LJ-PR-2014
COA Hosts Annual Legislative Forum
When Peter Johnstone, CEO of Gunboat International,
talks about his decision to open his newest production plant in Wanchese, N.C.,
he still gets a little emotional.
Johnstone had looked at
potential sites in Rhode Island and northern Florida as likely
prospects for building his high-end sailing catamarans and yachts. The
worldwide manufacturer hadn’t even considered North Carolina until another boat company
suggested it. But after doing some research, Johnstone realized Wanchese was
more than a sleepy little fishing village.
It was home to generations of boat-builders, many of whom were out of work following the recession.
In 2007, Johnstone said, about 1,800 skilled
boat-builders were manufacturing boats in Wanchese. Two years ago, when
Johnstone visited the former Buddy Davis yacht production facility - that
number had dwindled to 180.
That stark statistic, and a commitment from College of The Albemarle
to help get this workforce retrained, was all the incentive Johnstone needed to
open his U.S.
production plant in the former Buddy Davis facility, located just miles from
COA’s Dare campus.
“It was one of the key factors that led us to locate
here,” Johnstone said, adding that the North Carolina Department of Commerce
had pledged the assistance of COA’s Workforce Development & Continuing
Education program in its support package. The local community college paid for
and conducted the training the company needed to retrain the area workforce.
“As part of the package to come of the state, they
said they would do whatever trainings are necessary to make this happen,”
Johnstone said.
Nearly two years later, Johnstone’s facility has put
75 local boat-builders back to work and it’s a statistic he’s proud of.
“We have a year-and-a-half of backorders and COA has
helped make us super-competitive,” Johnstone told Sen. Bill Cook and Reps. Annie
Mobley, Paul Tine, and Bob Steinburg, during COA’s Annual Legislative Forum
last week. “I’m very grateful for the partnership with College of the Albemarle.”
COA President Kandi Deitemeyer used the annual event
to highlight a few of the college’s success stories, illustrating how the Elizabeth City community college has helped both
area businesses – and students – succeed over the past year.
Lisa Barcus, a COA alum, is one of those success
stories. Before earning her Associate’s Degree in Business and a diploma in
cosmetology at COA, Barcus didn’t really have a plan for her future. She had
just lost her job and her son was only 6 months old at the time. Barcus said her mom suggested enrolling at
COA.
“It really changed my life,” said Barcus, who opened
Alice V Salon in Elizabeth
City a year after
graduating.
“I am so absolutely thankful for the experience of
going to college. This was my second chance to shine.”
Deitemeyer said if COA is to continue helping area
students and businesses reach their goals, the General Assembly needs to
reinvest $32 million in funding to the state’s 58 community colleges when it
reconvenes in May.
“It’s all about teaching and it’s all about learning,”
Deitemeyer said. “Transforming lives and transforming communities. Taking
someone from where they are, to where they want to be.”
Deitemeyer said $16.2 million
in state funding would go toward supporting the highest-cost curriculum
programs in fields like health sciences, engineering and biotechnology, as well
as helping to fund workforce education courses. The remaining $15.8 million in
funding would be earmarked to ensure quality instruction and student support.
By reinvesting the $15.8 million, colleges would be able to determine local
solutions for improving student success.
Deitemeyer noted that community college faculty and staff are instrumental in
student success, but in North
Carolina, they are paid significantly less than
national and regional averages. She encouraged them to support faculty and
staff salaries at community colleges that reflects the value they bring to our
students and our state.
Currently,
Deitemeyer added, North Carolina’s average faculty salary ranks 11th in
the 16 states represented in the southeast region, and the state ranks
41st nationally.
“I don’t want to pay my faculty an average wage because
I don’t want average people,” Deitemeyer
said, adding that North Carolina’s
Jobs Plan for 2014-2024, identifies education and workforce development as a
key in developing and retaining a globally competitive workforce. The state
plan also identifies rural prosperity – spreading jobs and investment to the
rural areas of the state – as a significant contributor to creating jobs in the
future. Deitemeyer said rural prosperity is another reason reinvestment in the
state’s community colleges – and COA in particular – is critical.
COA serves students in seven counties throughout rural
northeastern North Carolina.
This seven-county service area makes it the largest in the state.
“Retraining is the key to putting the unemployed to
work and there’s a high rate of employment in northeast North Carolina,” Johnstone said.
He said the assistance he received from COA’s
Workforce Development program, and the free customized training it provided,
was the reason he opened his facility in Wanchese.
Retraining the local boat-builders, so they could
learn the high-tech infusion laminating process Gunboat uses to produce its
catamarans, was essential to the production of his boats. COA held several
training sessions at the new plant in 2012 and 2013, and even arranged for an
industry expert to lead the training and develop an in-house training course
that is taken by all of Gunboat’s new hires.
“They came up with a one-week course and brought in
the leading infusion laminating specialist worldwide,” Johnstone said. “And
they led three different training weeks. It was terrific.”
If COA is expected to continue retraining the local
workforce and help local companies and students remain competitive, Deitemeyer
said, area legislators need to reinvest $32 million in funding during the
upcoming fiscal year.
Area legislators in attendance at COA’s legislative
forum agreed that finding the funding to invest in the state’s community
colleges is a top concern.
“When we talk about limited resources, you have to
talk about priorities,” Tine said, adding that funding of transportation and
education are the two biggest issues facing the state.
“Those two things are the most transformative
priorities at the state level,” Tine added.
Without the support of the General Assembly,
Deitemeyer said, the mission of COA and other community colleges could be in
jeopardy.
“Community colleges are essential to North Carolina’s economic recovery,”
Deitemeyer said. “We’re asking the General Assembly to make a reinvestment of
$32 million. That’s not new money, it’s already there. You need to leave it
here if you want us to continue the great things we’ve been doing.”
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