From digtriad.com

Greensboro, NC — The North Carolina Center for Global Logistics and Piedmont Triad Partnership have partnered with the colleges to expand logistics operations, training and transfer management to the schools.

Logistics companies in the triad employ in excess of 67,000 people, according to the new partnership. This means about 1 in every 10 workers in the area is in logistics. The group is leveraging this as strength to attract even more jobs.

“As the economy starts to rebound, and which we have seen signs of that happening in this particular region with advanced manufacturing, logistics will grow with it,” said Randy Ledford, dean at the Davidson County Community College School of Business Engineering and Technical Studies.

Lefdord says the partnership is looking to spark new interest in logistics, train students “hands on” for jobs, attract companies to bring jobs to the Triad and be a resource center for logistics companies already here.

To do that, the partnership is building a campus near Piedmont Triad International Airport. Community college students in Randolph, Forsyth, Guilford and Davidson Counties will go here for hands-on training.

The initiative is also hoping to situate the industry for growth in this region pointing to the prime geographical location of the Triad; 70 percent of the US population can be reached within a two to three days drive from here.

“It’ll bring in jobs but it’ll also bring in smaller jobs as well. As you feed this particular need it really could help the Piedmont Triad area by having the center to formally collaborate with,” Ledford explained.

Rodney Reece, a logistics instructor at Davidson also adds: “[The partnership] shows that North Carolina is a major role player for logistics now.

“I think that that’s also a good thing because it’s going to offer a lot of opportunities for people in the area as well as people outside that can move into the area. It’s just a big growth rate.”
As far as how many jobs the colleges hope this initiative could bring, they say the sluggish economy has slowed some of the projections.

But they point to recent examples and companies like Fed Ex who opened new logistics centers in the area.

Fed Ex’s October 2011 opening of their center in Kernersville brought 300 jobs.

The Piedmont Triad Partnership announced today that it has reached an agreement with four community colleges to manage the North Carolina Center for Global Logistics starting July 1.

The center’s management will be led by Guilford Technical Community College in partnership with PTP and the community colleges in Davidson, Forsyth and Randolph counties.

The center is slated to open in 2013 at GTCC’s Donald W. Cameron Campus near Piedmont Triad International Airport.

“The transition is in alignment with our role to promote regional economic development and to develop a competitive growth strategy,” David Powell, president and CEO of PTP, said in a statement.

GTCC President Randy Parker added in the statement that he wants the center to be recognized worldwide.

“To accomplish this, we need to create a world-class work force through education and skills development in the field of logistics,” Parker said. “No organizations are better suited to do this than the four partnering community colleges that have been nationally recognized for their work force development standards.”

When the 15-minute serving period starts, Alamance Community College’s culinary team is in the weeds.

Initially, the five-member group doesn’t let on, continuing to move with the same calm they possessed throughout the entire cooking section.

But as time ticks away, the breakdown — in communication and with the equipment — is obvious. Emily Totherow stops chopping the pistachio brittle that will coat the edge of a shortbread cookie in her orange Bavarian with chocolate sauce dessert and runs to the pasta maker.

Earlier, Jennifer Phillips, who was cooking the striped bass Provencale appetizer, rolled out a sheet of saffron pasta and left it drying. Totherow finishes, trying to cut it into angel hair. The team knows the handle habitually falls off. This time, the top of the pasta maker drops on the table. Totherow hurries to reattach it.

She tries it all again and then heads to the pot of water on the stove, but is stopped short. A crosswind in the kitchen impacts the flame under the buerre blanc sauce accompanying the striped bass, vegetable stew, tapenade and pistou. The sauce isn’t reducing quickly enough. Totherow stares at the stove, holding the uncooked pasta. Maria Granados, who is preparing the entree and charged with searing the bass, also waits for the testy buerre blanc.

Their rhythm in the kitchen — the moves they practiced for hours and hours since September — is suddenly off.

Read the rest of this article at The Times News

From the Rocky Mount Telegram

N.C. Wesleyan College and Cape Fear Community College will offer two bachelor’s degree programs on Cape Fear’s Wilmington campuses. After months of planning and coordination between the two schools, more than 30 students have begun their first classes leading to careers in business administration or elementary education.

Wesleyan recruited adjunct professors from the Wilmington area to teach the relevant courses and hired Katie Farrell as the full-time educational coordinator to recruit and advise students interested in these degrees. All instructors have a minimum of a master’s degree with many having earned doctorate degrees. In addition, some of Wesleyan’s full-time faculty will teach occasionally in Wilmington.

Farrell oversees the total program and expressed excitement about the launch of the first classes. N.C. Wesleyan President James Gray joined her to welcome the first group of students.

“I am delighted to work with these great students, who are eager to take advantage of the opportunity to complete their degrees through this unique program that is designed for the convenience of the adult learner,” Gray said.

An additional 60 students are in the process of applying for the program, which offers year-round rolling admissions and course completion in an eight week cycle, Farrell said. The first course offerings include: Business Communications, Religion, Books for Children and Psychological Development in Childhood. The next term begins in early March.

Each course will be offered one night each week for eight weeks with a mix of classroom and online experiences. This schedule is designed to allow students to attend full time, but also, to meet the needs of working students who prefer to attend on a part-time basis. Tuition is comparable to the state university system. Financial aid is available for qualified individuals.

Students will have access to Smarthinking, an online tutoring service, and the N.C. Wesleyan College library has coordinated with the Cape Fear Community College library to teach and assist students with information literacy skills. The elementary education degree provides state licensure for students who complete those requirements.

“It is exciting to see this partnership come to fruition,” said Dr. Evan Duff, vice president for adult programs at N.C. Wesleyan. “The level of interest we have received demonstrates the need for more educational programs that accommodate working adults in eastern NC. Wesleyan is proud to be meeting those needs.”

Duff said the college has agreements with several N.C. community colleges which allow students with associate degrees to transfer credits to Wesleyan’s four-year programs. However, he pointed out that delivering the classes on Cape Fear’s northern and downtown campuses is a new approach.

“This is the first partnership in several years where we’re physically offering the degrees on their campus and accommodating their students,” Duff said. “So, this is a different approach for Wesleyan.”

Many students with an associate’s degree in applied science from Cape Fear Community College’s vocational programs have some difficulty finding four-year colleges that accept their credit hours, Duff said. The N.C. Wesleyan program allows students to transfer up to 64 credit hours from many of the AAS degrees, which is the maximum a four-year school can accept for a two-year degree.

Individuals seeking more information should visit the N.C. Wesleyan College website www.ncwc.edu/adult or email Katie Farrell at kfarrell@ncwc.edu or call (910) 520-6786.