During his State of the Union Address in January, President Obama highlighted the story of Jackie Bray.  Jackie is a single mother from North Carolina who was laid off from her job as a machinist, but reentered the workforce by taking advantage of an innovative partnership between the German company Siemens and her local community college.  Last week, I traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina to learn more about how Central Piedmont Community College has become a national leader in partnering with employers to create similar workforce development programs and encourage in-sourcing of jobs to the United States.

Central Piedmont has an enrollment of 70,000 students, including recent high school graduates, incumbent and laid off workers, and returning veterans.  Over the past three years, the Labor Department has awarded CPCC approximately $6 million through various grants to develop workforce training programs.  The college has also leveraged the grants, receiving additional money from local and international employers as well as area foundations.  The result is one of the most comprehensive community college-employer partnerships in the nation.  Partner employers give input on curriculum development, serve on advisory committees to monitor training programs, and engage other employers eager to partner with CPCC.

In April, CPCC signed an agreement with a German Chamber of Industry and Commerce – the first of its kind in the United States.  The agreement empowered CPCC to offer advanced manufacturing certificates prized by German employers. It also is part of CPCC’s comprehensive strategy to address both the supply side of labor – by training a skilled workforce, and the demand side – by actively recruiting companies to site production in the Charlotte area.

CPCC President Tony Zeiss captured the college’s philosophy: “Industry drives our training curriculum,” he said. “We want Charlotte to be the best place in the United States in three areas: harnessing innovation to create things; leading the way in advanced manufacturing to make things; and using intermodal transportation to move things.” The college has approached this challenge from multiple angles with the centerpiece being continual engagement with a group of German companies either already located in Charlotte, or interested in moving production to the area. 

The area is already home to more than 200 German companies employing 2,900 people, and CPCC is intent on increasing both of those numbers.  The college has sent faculty to Siemens Technical Academy in Berlin, and in August will be hosting a Global Competiveness Summit to discuss how they can expand in-sourcing through training and economic development efforts, and expand their partnership to include other local universities.

CPCC is truly a national leader in integrating economic and workforce development, and linking both to a strategy for in-sourcing. As their enrollment continues to rise – including a 35% increase since the beginning of the Great Recession – the Labor Department is proud to play a role in supporting their efforts.

Seth Harris is the Deputy Secretary of Labor.