FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Nathan Ramsey
Mountain Area Workforce Development Board
Land of Sky Regional Council
Nathan@landofsky.org (828) 768-3216
SHARING WNC MANUFACTURING CAREER OPPORTUNITIES WITH LOCAL SCHOOLSThe Western Prosperity Zone (WPZ) of North Carolina boasts 848 manufacturing businesses that provide 29,900 jobs with an average wage of $71,865. There are currently over 1,000 manufacturing job openings in the thirteen Western NC counties which comprise the WPZ. It is projected that growth by 2030 will add another 2,300+ jobs. Demographic data reflects the aging workforce with 22.6 % or 6,486 jobs filled by workers between 55 and 64 years old. (Lightcast, Q3 2023) Educating teachers about career opportunities in this industry sector is essential to filling the area’s future workforce pipeline.
On Tuesday, September 26, 2023, the Mountain Area Workforce Development Board, a department of Land of Sky Regional Council, will host a professional development event for 50+ Career and Technical Education (CTE) Directors, Coordinators, Teachers, and Counselors from 14 public school districts across 13 western counties. This special event, Elevating Career Opportunities for High School Students, is designed for educators who work with students in career planning and advising.
Loren Finnerty, GE Aerospace Plant Leader, Asheville welcomes the opportunity to showcase their machining and composite facilities. “We’re excited to have the CTE group here. Our facility is not what people might think of when they imagine manufacturing. It’s clean, safe, and high-tech. The more we share with early educators, the more likely we can influence kids to choose a career path in manufacturing, whether that be through higher education like engineering or through jobs like our entry-level technician roles, which don’t require any previous experience. There’s a lot of career satisfaction to seeing the parts you make, and the teamwork involved to make them.”
Key presentations by A-B Tech, Blue Ridge Community College, and the Land of Sky P20 Council will focus on understanding pre-apprenticeship, apprenticeship, short-term training, credentialing, and employment options for high-school students. An afternoon tour of GE Aerospace will give participants the opportunity to see firsthand how a local advanced manufacturing company designs and builds jet engines using state-of-the-art processes and materials. Leaders from the NC Department of Education will be present to experience how workforce partners, higher education, k-12, and industry can work together to better inform teachers about the numerous career paths available in modern manufacturing and to better understand how to assist students in bridging the gap between school, training, education, and work.
About Mountain Area Workforce Development Board
MAWDB is created through federal legislation and serves Buncombe, Henderson, Madison and Transylvania counties. Over 50% of the Board’s membership is comprised of representatives from private industry. The remaining members represent Economic Development Agencies, Education, Community Based Organizations, Organized Labor and Local Government.
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