As a demand for skilled workers grows, Orange County should back plan to expand training

In a televised address on his signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, President Lyndon Johnson told Americans, “We have come now to a time of testing. We must not fail.”

We stand at a similar moment. As we emerge from the COVID pandemic, our test is to ensure that on matters of equitable access to health care, education and jobs we don’t focus on getting back to normal – we focus on getting back better.

In the Triangle, we now live in the heart of one of the country’s hottest job markets. We also live in a metro area known for its stubborn lack of economic mobility. Children born poor have some of the worst odds in the country at moving up the income ladder. Today, the strength of the health care, information technology (IT), life sciences, and skilled trades sectors creates a unique moment to provide a true bridge to economic opportunity for residents who have been on the outside of this economy looking in.

At community colleges like Durham Tech, we believe our institutions are built for this moment.

Local elected leaders are making workforce development a priority. In Durham, county commissioners launched a nonprofit grant program providing support for Durham Tech’s Back-to-Work short-term training. The county manager’s recommended 2021-22 budget calls for new investments in Back-to-Work and in the BULLS Initiative to connect 18-24 year-olds with life sciences jobs.

In Orange County, in the fall of 2020, county commissioners accelerated construction of a second building on Durham Tech’s Hillsborough campus to address fast-growing demand in areas like health care, IT and the skilled trades – as well as to continue providing pathways to university transfer. This visionary action addressed projected employment increases in our region by 2026. Data from the respected labor market analytics firm Burning Glass shows 10-30% increases in health care occupations like registered nurses, medical assistants, and EMTs; in IT roles like network and user support and systems administrators; and in skilled trades like electricians, plumbers, and HVAC technicians.

By moving construction of a second building on the Orange County Campus up five years to begin in 2021-22, commissioners would be investing in added capacity to allow an estimated 13,215 additional residents to be served in those five years, including 43,080 additional course seats.

Both the Chapel Hill-Carrboro and Hillsborough/Orange County chambers of commerce support expansion and major employers like UNC Health – which employs individuals in health care, skilled trades, and IT occupations – see expansion on the Orange County Campus as critical to meeting their talent needs. Feedback sessions Durham Tech held this spring with employers across all sectors demonstrated the need for increased education and training capacity to meet workforce development needs. This Tuesday, June 8, Orange County Commissioners are set to vote on a budget which includes funding to allow construction on the second building to be completed by 2024.

How we emerge from the pandemic is the question of the day. The current strength of our labor market provides a generational chance to increase access to jobs that offer not only livable wages but economic mobility. In this time of testing, we cannot let it pass us by. The investment our community makes today in addressing workforce needs promises to return benefits that last generations.

This story was originally published June 7, 2021 at 11:37 AM.