Summary: State of NC community college presidents met recently to work through some of the details of what community colleges could do to help address a huge challenge of meeting the needs of employers between now and 2030. North Carolina is going to need 2 million more people with some sort of education that is more than just a high school degree. It could be a four year degree or a two year degree. If we do nothing, we are going to come up 700,000 people short, so a lot of people are looking for ways to build a pipeline of young folks to meet some of that need. This week’s First in Future guest, Peter Hans, president of the State of NC Community College System knows with absolute certainty that the community colleges will play a critical role with their continuing education and curriculum programs to help address this employment education need and other challenges. The Institute for Emerging Issues is going to be looking at what we can do to help more adults get that additional level of education at our next Emerging Issues Forum, coming up October 15 in Charlotte. IEI is looking for inspirational examples from employers, support organizations and educational entities who are getting our adult workers the credentials they need in time to get ready for their next job.
