Editor's note: Read the Business Journal's article about the upcoming commissioners vote on CFCC's bond sale here, including why commissioner Woody White said he might vote against moving the bonds forward. White declined an invitation to also submit an opinion column before Tuesday's meeting.
Tomorrow, the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners are expected to make an important decision regarding an investment in Cape Fear Community College. That decision concerns whether to sell bonds needed to continue progress on the highly-anticipated Advanced and Emerging Technologies Center (AETC) and also fund several renovations at CFCC’s downtown Wilmington Campus.
Proceeding with this project without further delays is the fiscally prudent choice for the New Hanover County Commissioners and the Cape Fear Region.
This project advances the college’s mission and aligns with the county’s focus on economic development to better position our area to be more competitive with other regions when it comes to business recruitment.
New Hanover County voters expressed their approval for this project in 2008 by passing a $164 million bond referendum. The bond passed by a clear majority of 62 percent of the vote and was approved by voters in every precinct in the county.
There is no better investment in our community’s infrastructure than education and job training -- and that’s what this project will provide.
To maximize public investment, construction of the AETC needs to move forward without further delays. Nearly $2 million has already been spent toward the design of the building using bond funds already approved, and the construction bid is within the available budget. Any delays will likely increase the price tag of the project by millions more as construction costs rise.
This project will allow us to expand our job training capabilities, which is critical to our region’s ability to attract and retain new businesses. This project will address both current needs and future needs of the college.
Today, the college has a pressing need to expand some of our existing programs because a skilled workforce is in high demand. Employers have jobs available right now that can’t be filled. Demand for skilled labor is growing.
If we had the space, those high demand programs could be expanded.
In addition to expanding our existing programs, the college also needs space to add new job training programs to further diversify the job skills available for local residents.
Another major benefit this project will bring is dedicated space for customized industry training. Our ability to create custom training programs is critical to attracting and retaining new industry and is a significant boost to our region’s economic development efforts.
Currently, the college has no dedicated space for customized training and struggles to find space to keep up with the requests from local businesses such as Corning, GE Hitachi, Fenner Drives, ACME Smoked Fish and Castle Branch.
As you know, Vertex Rail has been working with us to train more than 1,000 new employees. Right now we’re using their own facility, but moving forward, they’ve already indicated they will need additional training on-site at CFCC. The AETC will provide dedicated training space needed not only for businesses that are here now, but for the next Vertex down the road.
In summary, moving forward with the Advanced and Emerging Technologies Center is a smart decision to support the current and future economic growth of New Hanover County. It will help prepare more local citizens for a greater variety of jobs. It’s an investment in our infrastructure that will help grow our economy for years to come, and in order to maximize our community’s investment, the college needs to move forward without any further delay.
Ted Spring is president of Cape Fear Community College.
