Writer: Liz Palmer
2 min read September 2022 — Johnston County’s leaders are defining the region’s next chapter by addressing the business community’s needs for a strong workforce.
The county has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Triangle’s rapid growth, and an overhaul of workforce development has become paramount, especially following recent announcements like Becton, Dickinson & Company’s plan to invest at least $25 million in another local facility and the economic development incentive approval of Novo Nordisk’s investment plan over the next 12 years.
Delivering that pipeline of talent means taking a different, more innovative approach, according to Maureen McGuinness, president and CEO of the Triangle East Chamber of Commerce that covers the swath of the county. She discussed the chamber’s role in the larger scheme of Johnston County’s growth coming down to workforce development and attracting employment opportunities in an interview with Invest:. “I think chambers have changed dramatically since they were first established. We are change makers,” she said in an overview of the county’s past year of economic development action items. “We are approaching that with teams of people and even though we were working countywide on this with a lot of different organizations, the efforts are housed under our umbrella. We’re also offering businesses more technical tools to run their business.”
SizeUp is one of those tools, making data analysis accessible to local businesses and entrepreneurs. Through this and other programming, McGuinness said the chamber is doing the “economic gardening” for the county; as the local government continues to recruit companies, the chamber exists to “support existing businesses and support emerging businesses so that they can connect, grow and prosper alongside new industry. With many childcare and construction workers retiring without the younger generation coming in behind them, there is a growing concern about meeting the community’s higher demands. In response, the chamber has partnered with Johnston Community College to ready local community members to enter those fields.
Another means of partnership between county leaders, the Workforce Development Center (WDC) is the result of collaboration between the County, local public school system, economic development team, local business community and Johnston Community College. It sits in Clayton as a workforce training center, committed to supporting local industries by offering skill-building and learning opportunities from “elementary through post-secondary in science and biotech, and other areas of economic influence within the county,” according to the community college’s website.
JOCO WORKS is another region-wide response to skilled labor shortages, targeting every eighth grader in the district for a two-day career workshop where students are able to grasp what working in different trades is like. “Participation in JoCoWorks assists students as they choose their high school classes and their career track,” McGuinness said. “We’re trying to grow local talent here by getting the students and their parents to understand that you can have a fulfilling, satisfying career in a wide range of fields right here in the county.” This year, JOCO WORKS will be Oct. 13-14 and will cover career clusters and pathways in agriculture, construction, energy and technology, transportation and logistics, healthcare, tourism and hospitality and more.
