grow
AUGUST 2018
a greensboro chamber of commerce publication
Workforce Development
from cradle through career
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The Greensboro Chamber of Commerce is the largest business organization in the community serving more than 1,000 member businesses through programming designed to help them succeed and grow. A partner in the Guilford County Economic Development Alliance, the Chamber also serves as Greensboro’s primary economic development organization, with special emphasis placed on community and entrepreneurial advancement through Action Greensboro and Launch Greensboro.
grow
IN THIS ISSUE august 2018
a greensboro chamber of commerce publication
4. roadmap to grow in greensboro 6. READY FOR SCHOOL, READY FOR LIFE Initiative strives to give children a positive start in life
Publisher Brent Christensen bchristensen@greensboro.org
8. Apprentice program creates new generation of skilled workers
Editor Megan Mabry mmabry@greensboro.org
10. Sparks and fire: Introducing teens to a new world
Freelance Writer/Feature Articles Eddie Huffman Graphic Design Bryelle Dafeldecker bdafeldecker@greensboro.org
12. campus greensboro shows students all city has to offer
Advertising Kathi Lester klester@greensboro.org
grow is published quarterly by the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce for the distribution to its investors, members, and other interested parties. The publication is written and edited by the Chamber and editorial decisions are made by its staff. The views expressed in grow should not be interpreted as the official policy of the Chamber. The publisher reserves the right to decline advertising considered unsuitable for publication.
Cover Photo & Table of Contents Photo courtesy of Guilford County Schools. Campus Greensboro Photos courtest of Action Greensboro.
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GROW IN GREENSBORO Cradle through Career
Early Childhood Development
Largest single county Head Start/Early Head Start program in North Carolina and other programs helping children and their families
K-12 Educational Success Guilford County Schools has a wide variety of programs to help students K-12 find their right track for success
GCS CTE Programming
Empower students to be successful citizens, workers and leaders in a global economy
Middle Colleges & Early Colleges
A collaborative effort to build a connected, innovative system of care with and for Guilford County’s youngest children and their families
Opportunities offered at: GTCC, Guilford College, Bennett College, Dudley Early College, UNCG and NC A&T
Access to PostSecondary Education
Degrees & COMPLETION Post-Secondary Degree Credential Attainment or Completion
Family Success Center An initiative designed to help get adults back into college to complete their degrees/credentials
Services focus on employment, education, financial capability, health and wellness and basic needs
7 Colleges & Universities:
Attract & Retain Local Talent Creating Connections with Local Professionals & Talent
Career Advancement
Reaching out to young professionals Engaging and cultivating young professionals, and connecting them to local development opportunities
Job Shadowing Internships Apprenticeships Workforce Development: Middle School - Adults Providing job shadowing connections Program preparing high school students for careers in advanced manufacturing and field services Initiative to prepare college students to enter the workforce and experience the city as young professionals Providing work-based learning
Eastern Triad Initiative 5
COMMUNITY-WIDE EFFORT AIMS TO TRANSFORM GUILFORD CHILDREN
Jim Hoffman (Ready for School, Ready for Life Steering Committee Member) presenting at Coffee & Conversation | March 2018
“About 80% of brain development occurs in the first three years of a child’s life”
BY EDDIE HUFFMAN
C
hildren who start life at a disadvantage often have serious problems follow them into adulthood, research shows. A Guilford County initiative is working to improve long-term prospects for children by helping parents get things right from the start. “We’ve known for a long time that adverse childhood experiences become almost an assurance of juvenile delinquency, teenage pregnancy, welfare dependency, unemployment, school dropout and incarceration,” says Robin Britt, who serves on the board of directors of Ready for School, Ready for Life.
The initiative aims to prevent adverse experiences for children when possible, and mitigate them when not. Ready for School, Ready for Life launched three years ago and continues to make progress toward an ambitions set of goals, including: planned and well-timed pregnancies; healthy births; connecting parents with supports; improving developmental screening processes; school readiness by kindergarten; and improving coordination among agencies and professionals and referrals to programs. “Everyone who has an interaction with children has a part to play in this,” says Mary Herbenick, executive director of Ready for School, Ready for Life. The aim is progress over years and decades more than weeks and months. Ready for School, Ready for Life works to connect an array of agencies and professionals who can make a difference in the lives of children, including prenatal caregivers, pediatricians, social workers, childcare providers and teachers. “About 50 percent of children in Guilford County arrive at kindergarten not prepared to succeed, and needing serious remedial help so that they will be reading at grade level in the third grade,” says Susan Schwartz, co-chair of Ready for School, Ready for Life. “That’s not acceptable.” Schwartz is the executive director of the Cemala Foundation, a Greensboro nonprofit organization that makes grants to enhance the quality of life in the community. The origins of the initiative lie with Schwartz and Ed Kitchen, vice president of the Bryan Foundation and co-chair of Ready for School, Ready for Life. “About 80 percent of brain development occurs in the first three years of a child’s life,” Schwartz says. “If children don’t get what they need, they tend to arrive at kindergarten behind, and they tend not to do well at school, and tend not to read at grade level by third grade.” Years ago she and Kitchen started a quest to figure out the best way to invest in early childhood development. Workshops and planning sessions involving hundreds of local professionals led to the creation of Ready for School, Ready for Life in 2015. “We’re building a system that doesn’t exist right now,” Herbenick says. “Our goal is to get children ready for kindergarten, and that’s a
complex thing to achieve. It’s a community all-in effort, and we have a role for everyone in the community to play.” Ready for School, Ready for Life is always looking for volunteers, she says. Information is available at getreadyguilford.org. Britt, executive director of Guilford Child Development and a former congressman, cites problems in childhood such as poverty, abuse and exposure to violence that contribute to dire outcomes later in life. But smaller-scale neglect, such as failing to read or engage with children, can have a large impact as a child moves through school and out into the world. “We want people to be productive adults,” says Debbi Kennerson, director of the Greensboro Children’s Developmental Services Agency and an active participant in Ready for School, Ready for Life from the beginning. “Well, in order to be productive adults, you need to be successful in school. In order to be successful in school – what is that root cause? It starts prenatally, it starts at birth.” Earlier this year Ready for School, Ready for Life partnered with the Duke Endowment to create a pilot program aimed at creating a care network for young children and their families. The pilot activities will coordinate with existing programs to: • Identify and screen every pregnant woman in Guilford County as early as possible in pregnancy. • Ensure that all families receive a home visit within three weeks of birth by a nurse. • Place child-development experts to work with families in pediatric practices that serve a large proportion of Medicaid-eligible families. • Offer home visits to all families of toddlers (15-18 months old) and preschoolers (36 months) by parent educators to connect with needed resources. • Help Guilford County programs and services use data to continuously improve their effectiveness, make decisions, and coordinate their care for families.
“As we think about the first 2,000 days of a child’s life, we’re building community knowledge and community interest,” says Michelle Gethers-Clark, president and CEO of the United Way of Greater Greensboro and vice chair of Ready for School, Ready for Life. “And, most of all, we’re helping families who are in search of educational outcomes for their children.”
Teens and retirees forge a bond over metalwork By Eddie Huffman
PHOTO BY BRYELLE DAFELDECKER
S
parks fly and people shout over the howl of metal digging into metal. Everyone wears safety glasses or welding helmets. On a hot summer morning, a couple of retirees show a group of young men some tricks of their former trades. “We’re giving kids an opportunity to have something to do and learning a career, and one that’s not going to be replaced by a robot, and is in demand right now,” says Steve Treson, a retired construction worker. The setting is The Forge Greensboro, a nonprofit space that provides equipment and instruction for endeavors such as welding, sheet metal, woodworking and ceramics. The young men are part of the African-American Male Initiative (AAMI), a program designed to help students from schools in impoverished areas maximize their potential. “They taught me how to become a better person,” says Kevin Mendoza, 16, a student in the Academy at Smith High School in Greensboro. “They also taught me how challenging life can be, and they always get me through it somehow.” He has been involved with AAMI since fifth grade. The program began in 2011 when the United Way of Greater Greensboro partnered with Guilford County Schools to work toward improving outcomes for young male students. Communities in Schools of Greater Greensboro implemented AAMI. “We were looking at how many African-American boys were not graduating on time, and the mischaracterization and narrative that has been built around young men of color,” says Rashard Jones, AAMI project director. Each student is paired with an individual mentor, a volunteer from the community. Volunteers come from all walks of life, including attorneys, Rotary Club members and employees of Bank of America and Syngenta. “We tell people the greatest ability is availability,” Jones says. The volunteers at The Forge and a handful of AAMI students are meeting each other for the first time. Treson, who retired from a career as a foreman for a mechanical construction company in Manhattan, teaches the guys some basic welding techniques: “One is a little hesitant, but he’s doing OK. The other is like, ‘Man, I just don’t like sparks and fire!’ Well, that’s human, that’s normal!” Mendoza warmed up to welding quickly. “The first time you do it, you’re pretty nervous and don’t know what to do, but then once you practice a
little bit, you get the hang of it,” he says. Welding torches and drill presses aren’t going to appeal to everyone, of course. “If they don’t like it, fine,” says Joe Tiska, a charter member of The Forge. “They can check that off the list and find something else that turns the light bulb on.” Tiska learned machining in the U.S. Navy and worked for a variety of companies in Illinois and North Carolina before landing a job at Lorillard Tobacco Company (now ITG Brands), where he retired in 2014 after 33 years. Working at The Forge gives AAMI students an introduction to the earning potential of a skilled-labor job. “You can come out of high school and make pretty good money doing this type of work,” Jones says. “And if you really refine your gift, you can make six figures.”
“
They taught me how to become a better person”
-Kevin Mendoza, 16 Dorien Porter, 17, is also a student in the Academy at Smith. He plans to go to N.C. A&T State University, and sees welding as a valuable skill for the career path he hopes to follow. “I actually kind of enjoy it, and I want to pursue it as a career,” Porter says. “I want to be in between an electrical and a mechanical engineer.” Kevin Cunningham, 14, attends Allen Middle School in High Point and has been involved with AAMI since third grade. He has tried metal grinding, smelting and plasma cutting at The Forge, and has seen possibilities for using metal in his art projects. Cunningham credits AAMI with boosting his life skills and sparking his creativity. “I don’t think I would be as creative as I wanted to be if I hadn’t been in it,” he says. For Jones, watching young men rise to their full potential has been one of the most gratifying aspects of AAMI. “It’s one thing to produce empirical evidence that says, ‘OK, this is what the data says is going to happen if a child has an additional caring adult in their life,’” he says. “To actually see it after nine years – to see a child who was alienated, antisocial, now blossoming, and the life of the room, and jovial? It’s amazing to see.”
Filling the GAP:
Program develops skilled workers By Eddie Huffman
M
achine Specialties Inc. in Whitsett has several lofty clients: The manufacturer makes
metal parts for everything from replacement hips to the International Space Station. Finding people to make those parts, however, has sometimes brought MSI back down to earth. “We’ve always had the challenge of finding that next new pipeline of skilled employees,” says Tammy Simmons, MSI’s executive vice president. It’s a problem many Triad manufacturers face as the workforce ages. So three years ago MSI teamed up with Triad Workforce Solutions Collaborative, the Greensboro Partnership, Guilford County Schools, Guilford Technical Community College, and other businesses to start developing a local pool of skilled workers. The result: Guilford Apprenticeship Partners (GAP). “The GAP program is critical to the times,” says Donna Newton, director of workforce and housing initiatives at the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro. “Employers are having increasing difficulty in finding skilled workers to fill the jobs that they currently have, much less to grow their businesses for the future.” GAP started small in 2016 with 14 apprentices working for four employers. The numbers jumped to 23 apprentices and 11 employers in 2017, then 50 apprentices working for 26 companies this year. “The growth has been great,” Simmons says. “More companies see the advantages of it, so we don’t have to talk to the companies as much as we have to talk to the students.” The apprenticeships are open to high school juniors and seniors in Guilford County who meet certain minimum attendance and grade requirements. They go to work in one of two main tracks, all of which are highly skilled positions that pay well. Advanced manufacturing covers welders, tool and die makers, quality technicians, maintenance technicians and computer numeric controlled (CNC) machinists. Field-service techs learn to work as electricians, plumbers, or heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) techs. Katie Roe (pictured bottom right) did some of her first welding work at Weaver Academy in downtown Greensboro. This year
she became a first-year apprentice in the welding department at MSI, building trusses for Bell helicopters. “It’s interesting work,” Roe says. “It’s good to work with my hands; it’s something I enjoy. It’s also a new mental challenge every day. Nothing’s ever the same, even if it’s supposed to fit right up and go. Most of the time you have to figure out what’s not fitting up right.” Students go through a six-week summer pre-apprenticeship as part of the GAP process. Those who qualify begin a full apprenticeship in August. It’s a great deal for those who make the cut: GAP apprentices not only earn a full-time salary, they also have all expenses paid toward a degree and get paid for time in class. “We pay for all of their books, tools, and fees – GAP even pays for the parking stickers,” Simmons says. “So there’s no expense whatsoever to the student. They’ll walk away with zero debt and a guaranteed job in a high-paying position.” Phillip Fuller is a first-year apprentice at Bright Plastics in Greensboro and an aspiring engineer. He is learning to be a process technician, which involves programming machines to make manufactured parts. “GAP gave me stability, paying for college and having a job at same time,” Fuller says. “That way I have money in my pocket; I don’t have to pay anything out. It gives me a step ahead toward my engineering career.” GAP organizers have used the experience they’ve gained so far to help start apprenticeship programs in Randolph and Rockingham counties. The next phase for GAP involves plans to expand into aerospace mechanics, logistics, and information technology (IT). “Our economy is going to be rocking if our employers have the employees that they need, and it’s really good for the community overall,” Simmons says.
“
THERE’S NO EXPENSE WHATSOEVER TO THE STUDENT. THEY’LL WALK AWAY WITH ZERO DEBT AND A GUARANTEED JOB IN A HIGH-PAYING POSITION.”
Campus
Greens IMMERSE boro S STUDEN TS IN CIT Y LIFE BY EDDIE HUFF MAN
W
hat do internships, Yum Yum, the Center for Creative Leadership, a Greensboro Grasshoppers game, LinkedIn lessons and a scavenger hunt have in common? They’re all part of the experiences college students get from Campus Greensboro. “One of our goals is to help students see Greensboro as a young professional,” says Lizzy Tahsuda, program director. “We want to keep them here post-graduation, and we want them to see this as a place they can live, work, and play.” Action Greensboro, the Chamber of Commerce’s non-profit organization that works to attract and retain young professionals, launched Campus Greensboro in 2016. (Originally called the Opportunity Greensboro Fellows Program, the name changed in August.) The initiative provides students from the city’s seven colleges and universities with an immersive experience that includes paid internships, mentors, training, networking opportunities and group outings to recreational activities and cultural events. Julia Brown, a West Virginia native, just finished her second summer with Campus Greensboro and started her final semester at the Elon University School of Law. One of her personal mottoes is “travel, explore, discover.” “Sometimes people maybe see that as ‘get out of the state, get out of the country,’” she says. “But you can do that within Greensboro, as well. You can travel to all of these different venues and restaurants; you can explore the parks.” Brown was one of 114 Campus Greensboro fellows in the summer of 2018. The program started with 36 fellows in 2016 and expanded to 53 last year before more than tripling its original number in 2018. The growth stems from businesses and companies asking for additional interns, Tahsuda says. “It came down to employer demand,” she says. “We were asked by our funders to scale the program and figure out what this is going to look like in the future. We have 50,000 college students in Greensboro, and right now we’re hitting a very small fraction of them. So how do we continue to grow that while still keeping the program high touch?” A wide range of companies hired Campus Greensboro interns in 2018, including financial corporations such as Arch Capital Services and Lincoln Financial; healthcare providers such as Cone Health and Breakthrough Physical Therapy; arts organizations such as Triad Stage and ArtsGreensboro; and international corporations
such as Syngenta and Procter and Gamble. Brown interned with the Greensboro city manager’s office in 2017 and Arch Mortgage Insurance Company in 2018. She hopes to find work locally and stay in Greensboro after she earns her law degree. One of Brown’s most valued parts of the Campus Greensboro experience has been learning professional and personal skills. Those have included a workshop on how to make the most of the LinkedIn professional social network and a two-day training session at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL). “We learned more about perspectives and leadership styles, discovering things about ourselves and others, how we interact, and how we can be interwoven and still independent,” Brown says. The CCL training stemmed from employer feedback, according to Tahsuda. They want to see employees with a better handle on soft skills such as communication, professionalism, teamwork and critical thinking.
“ WE WANT THEM TO SEE THIS AS A
PLACE THEY CAN LIVE, WORK, AND PLAY.” -Program Director, Lizzy Tahsuda
“A lot of our employers are saying there’s a soft skills gap right now,” Tahsuda says. Fun outings give Campus Greensboro fellows a chance to bond while exploring the city, whether attending a Hoppers baseball game, navigating the SKYWILD treetop adventure course at the Greensboro Science Center, or grabbing a treat at Yum Yum Better Ice Cream and Hot Dogs. A community-engagement smartphone app was added to the Campus Greensboro experience this year. The app encourages friendly competition among fellows, Tahsuda says. “Essentially it’s a scavenger hunt where the students can track their engagement throughout the community,” she says. “All the fellows events that they have to do through the program are logged into this app. It’s very competitive.” Campus Greensboro will continue to grow, Tahsuda says, though probably not at the dizzying rate of its first three years. Organizers hope to expand from a summer program to a year-round one, and continue to add fellows and employers. “I think word of mouth will continue to spread,” Tahsuda says. “And I think I’ll have more employer partners coming to me saying, ‘Hey, I want interns in your program. How do I make this work?’ And I’ll say, ‘Come on in.’”
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UPCOMING EVENTS
MONTHLY EVENTS
RETAIL SUMMIT September 12 | The Proximity Hotel
COFFEE AND CONVERSATION
GOLF CLASSIC
A monthly event from 7:30am-8:30am
October 1 | Sedgefield country club
A Networking and Educational program designed to bring leaders together to learn about important issues facing our business community.
Manufacturing Summit
SEPTEMBER Coffee & conversation
October 4 | Center for Advanced Manufacturing
This month we will feature a look at Campus Greensboro
women’s executive connection
MEMBER JUMPSTART
November 8 | Revolution mill
Every third wednesday | 4pm
economic forecast
Meet your fellow chamber members and let everyone know what’s going on in your company while answering how the chamber can help you!
November 29 | Marriott Downtown
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UP NEXT:
eensboro chamber of commerce publication
Hear from VF Corporation on What’s in Store and how your business can be prepared for what’s next. Wrangler will dive into the question of “How tight is your consumer lens” and will examine why it’s important to focus in. LMS, a local company that specializes in Influenser Marketing will put a spotlight on the New Age of Media and you may see some familar faces in our panel that will discuss the importance of Placemaking in an ever-evolving digital age.
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