Dedicated to the LEAN business community
of Western North Carolina

This section of the website describes a variety of LEAN resources available to Western North Carolina businesses.

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Community College Business & Industry Training

Customized Training Program

The Customized Training Program of the North Carolina Community College System supports the economic development efforts of North Carolina by providing education and training opportunities for eligible businesses and industries.  Amended in 2008, this new program integrates the New and Expanding Industry Training Program, the former Focused Industry Training Program, and the Customized Industry Training Program to more effectively respond to business and industry needs. The Customized Training Program offers programs and training services to assist new and existing business and industry to remain productive, profitable, and within the State.

The program was developed in recognition of the fact that one of the most important factors for a business or industry considering locating, expanding, or remaining in North Carolina is the ability of the State to ensure the presence of a well-trained workforce. The program is designed to react quickly to the needs of businesses and to respect the confidential nature of proprietary processes and information within those businesses.

Purpose
The purpose of the Customized Training Program is to provide customized training assistance in support of full-time production and direct customer service positions created in the State of North Carolina, thereby enhancing the growth potential of companies located in the state while simultaneously preparing North Carolina's workforce with the skills essential to successful employment in emerging industries.

Eligibility
Those for-profit businesses and industries eligible for support through the Customized Training Program include:

• Manufacturing,
• Technology Intensive  (i.e., Information Technology, Life Sciences,)
• Regional or National Warehousing and Distribution Centers
• Customer Support Centers,
• Air Courier Services,
• National Headquarters with operations outside North Carolina, and
• Civil Service employees providing technical support to US military installations located in North Carolina.

In order to receive assistance, eligible businesses and industries must demonstrate two or more of the following criteria:

• The business is making an appreciable capital investment;
• The business is deploying new technology;
• The business is creating jobs, expanding an existing workforce, or enhancing the productivity and profitability of the operations within the State; and,
• The skills of the workers will be enhanced by the assistance.

Conditions
Resources may support training assessment, instructional design, instructional costs, and training delivery for personnel involved in the direct production of goods and services. Production and technology support positions are also eligible for training support.

Full-time regular or probationary employees of qualified Customized Training companies are eligible for training delivered by the community college.

The use of Customized Training funds requires that trainees are paid by the company for all time during training hours.

Program Costs
The cost for an approved Customized Training Program is born by the State of North Carolina.  The community college delivering the services is given a grant for each approved project in order that they might deliver the services.

Professional Staffing
The community colleges may draw on several sources to deliver professional assessment, design, and training.

• Regional trainers employed by the North Carolina Community System have several years experience in delivering training in their respective fields.  These include: quality, leadership, and safety.
• Through local, regional and state-wide networking, the community colleges are able to draw upon professional, experienced trainers and consultants in a wide array of topic areas.
• Suppliers sometimes provide the best source of training professionals.
• Community college regular or adjunct faculties sometimes have the skills to deliver required services.
• Under some circumstances, an approved project could include training a client company’s employee(s) so that training is delivered on the job or in a classroom by client’s own staff.  In such a case, the community college grant would cover the cost of training the trainer and assisting with the trainer’s salary cost while he or she is delivering training.
  

Occupational Training Program
The North Carolina Community College System supports a wide array of continuing education courses that provide occupational skills training.  These courses may be delivered on a published, open enrollment basis or for sole delivery to a client organization.  Client organizations need not meet any statutory requirements.  They can be for-profit, not-for-profit, or governmental in nature.  They may be a part of any industry segment from aviation to zoos.

Program Costs
The cost for an occupational course is dictated by two factors: length of course and the community college’s instructional cost of the course.  Typically, courses will cost

• $50 for a course up to 10 hours,
• $55 for a course between 11 and 30 hours,
• $60 for a course between 31 and 100 hours,
• $65 for a course over 100 hours

The North Carolina Community College System subsidizes occupational continuing education courses based on the cost of student seat hours.  When the cost exceeds the amount for which the community college cannot recover their cost through state subsidization, the community college has two other options available to them:

• Client Cost Sharing: it may be afforable to the community college if the client pays up to 49% of the instructional cost, and pays registration fees, technology fees, and materials.
• Self-Supporting: if the instructional costs are still not recoverable under either of the above programs, the community college will charge the actual cost of instruction, materials, and overhead.

Small Business Center
North Carolina’s Small Business Centers are Community College System subsidized resources available to business and industry at no charge.  The Small Business Centers provide counseling and seminars.  The seminars are on an open enrollment basis, open to the general public, but can be geared to the special needs of any organization.

Career Readiness Certification
The Career Readiness Certificate (CRC) is an assessment-based credential that gives employers and career seekers a uniform measure of key workplace skills.  Gaining recognition across the United States, this program provides a means for employers to legally defend hiring criteria based upon successful completion of the CRC.

In the private sector, there is great concern about the skills gap that exists between those skills required on the job and those exhibited by potential and incumbent workers. Employers experience great difficulty in hiring people who have basic employability skills and who are therefore trainable for specific jobs. The Career Readiness Certificate is a portable skills credential, ensuring employers of a job seeker’s skills.

A portable skills credential that is easily and universally understood and valued by employers, educators, and recipients will facilitate job placement, retention, and advancement in our mobile society. Such a credential would be a supplement to a high school diploma, a GED, post-secondary credential, and/or a college degree. It is a great economic development tool for the workforce and business.

The Career Readiness Certificate is available to all adult citizens, upon successful completion of the WorkKeys® assessment.

Over the last ten years, WorkKeys has become a widely accepted common language for skills definition among employers, educators/trainers, and potential/incumbent employees. The power of the WorkKeys system lies in its: 1) objectivity, 2) simplicity, 3) compliance with federal law (ADA, EEOC), and 4) legal defensibility.

Across eight assessments, WorkKeys skill levels are described in terms of single digit numbers whose meanings are clearly defined and readily accessible. There are three components to the WorkKeys system:

1. Job profiling which identifies the basic employability skills required on the job
2. Assessment of skill levels of potential or incumbent workers
3. Training to close any skills gap that exists between the skills required and those demonstrated.

This latter component is efficient and cost effective because training is done ONLY in the specific skills areas where it is required.
Of the tens of thousands of jobs that have been profiled nationally using WorkKeys, about 85% of them use three WorkKeys assessments:

• Reading for Information
• Applied Mathematics
• Locating Information

WorkKeys assessments may be administered in One-Stop Career Centers, in Community Colleges, or other ACT-approved sites.

Adult Basic Education
Available at no charge, classes in G.E.D. preparation and English as a Second Language can be scheduled at any location appropriate for a classroom.  What is needed is privacy for the students and instructor, in a pleasant atmosphere that provides sufficient space for all.

Contacts

Laura Leatherwood
Haywood Community College
lbleatherwood@haywood.edu
828-565-4008

Sonja G. Haynes
Southwestern Community College
828-56-4091, ext. 218

Paul Worley
Tri-County Community College
pworley@tricounty.edu
828-837-6810

Click to view the resources available through...

Community College Business & Industry Training (you are here)

North Carolina Department of Commerce (to come)

Southwestern Commission (to come)

North Carolina Military Business Center (to come)

Waste Reduction Partners (to come)

Advantage West (to come)

Western Carolina Industries (to come)