skills gap

students on laptops in a classroom

Dream big: NC legislators, DPI push career plan mandate to address skills gap, workforce readiness

BY: - March 21, 2023

‘What do you want to be when you grow-up?’ It’s a question that adults frequently ask children, but one to which children rarely give much serious thought. North Carolina state lawmakers want to change that. Under Senate Bill 193, all middle school and high school students enrolled in local public schools would be required to […]

Monday numbers: A closer look at the effort to get more women into STEM fields

BY: - October 24, 2022

“When I talk to CEOs, the top three issues are workforce, workforce and workforce," Gov. Roy Cooper recently told a group of business and technology leaders gathered at the SAS headquarters in Cary. While the state sees advanced manufacturing as a primary driver of its economic future, many wonder if the North Carolina will have the skilled and diverse talent pool to fill those jobs. It's estimated that there are currently 800,000 open jobs in the manufacturing sector, according to the National Association of Manufacturers.

The continuing disconnect on economic development

BY: - November 15, 2013

You gotta’ hand it to state Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker for one thing: she continues to be the one McCrory administration official who will occasionally admit a problem and not directly blame the Perdue administration for its existence. She also frequently doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but at least she occasionally seems sincere. […]