If the area’s workforce woes are squeaky wheels, recent programs developed by local business leaders and educational institutions are providing some grease.

A variety of private and public sector leaders have been ramping up efforts to bolster the workforce across multiple industries. While challenges remain, the following sections describe a sampling of tangible steps forward.
 

CLINICAL RESEARCH SHORTAGE

Companies in the life sciences category, such as drug manufacturers and clinical research organizations, make up a large portion of Wilmington’s employment base.

More than 5,600 people in the region work at companies in the life sciences sector, said Randall Johnson, executive director of the N.C. Biotechnology Center’s Southeastern Office.

One of the tasks Johnson’s office undertakes is to help the industry address talent needs, in part by working with universities and community colleges across the state.

“We also work directly with companies on a regular basis and ask them what their current needs are and what their projected needs are, what their training needs might be. And if there’s not a program that matches those needs in the region, we work with partners to try to meet those needs by developing new programs,” he said.

Officials have reported a serious shortage in the clinical research profession in recent years, according to an N.C. Chamber industry update in 2022.

Part of the problem, they say, is a lack of awareness.

“One of the things we’re doing is reaching out to parents across the region and state to make sure that they know kids can graduate from high school and pretty quickly, with limited certification, go into a career in the life sciences,” Johnson said. “And then our hope, obviously, is to continue to build those skills with additional training and education over time, but they can start at that level, and that’s important for parents to notice.

“We also would love for some of those parents to make career transitions themselves with some limited community college training into the life sciences.”

Although Cape Fear Community College doesn’t currently offer a specific course in clinical research or biomanufacturing, existing CFCC programs such as chemical technology prepare local talent for careers at local companies, such as Quality Chemical Labs and Alcami, Johnson said. The community college system’s BioNetwork offers a range of certification programs designed to meet the needs of industry partners across the state, he said.

“We’re at a point right now in our region where we do need additional community college programming to support our existing contract manufacturers,” Johnson said, “and so we’ve been discussing this opportunity with the community college (CFCC) and with industry partners to make sure that those industry partners’ needs are met.”
 

MAKING IT WORK

Motorized pulley manufacturer Rulmeca opened its Wilmington facility in 2003, and the company recently expanded its production line at 3200 Corporate Drive in Northchase Industrial Park.

But expansion requires additional workers.

“As our company continues to grow, we will need more machinists, assembly technicians and salespeople,” said Rulmeca CEO Mike Gawinski. “The situation is definitely getting worse. Finding tradespeople who meet our company’s needs is becoming increasingly difficult.”

But Gawinski is optimistic as he and others work to do something about the situation.

The industry-led Cape Fear Manufacturing Partnership, born from the Cape Fear Council of Government’s Cape Fear Workforce Development Board (CFWDB), started in 2020. The partnership aims “to attract job seekers and to help train, develop and align talent to the wide diversity of career paths available in our industries,” according to the group’s website, which also lists more than 40 members, including Rulmeca.

Jim Flock, a leader in the partnership and chairman of the CFWDB, said community colleges in the area, including Brunswick Community College and CFCC, “offer extensive training programs in technical fields that are in demand, providing well-trained and credentialed graduates to local businesses. Customized training programs offered by the colleges are important tools to address specific needs of manufacturers, upskilling staff and expanding the capabilities and marketability of both the company and the employee.”

At the same time, local high school career and technical education programs “have been modified recently to better align with the skill needs of our region, helping to enhance the talent pipeline going forward and providing lucrative career paths for youth entering the job market,” said Flock, who is also general manager of landing gear component manufacturer HSM Machine Works Inc. in Brunswick County.

Officials have also established manufacturing summer camps for middle and elementary school students.

“These camps are forums that expose kids at an early age to the excitement and possibilities of careers in manufacturing, planting that seed of enthusiasm for making things at an early age,” Flock said.

The first Friday of each October is Manufacturing Day across the country, he said.

“The Cape Fear region stretches this out and has activities in all four counties we serve across the months of October and November,” Flock said. 
 

BARRIERS TO TRAINING

A new organization is launching with $6.8 million to boost the Wilmington area’s workforce.

The Forward Fund (TFF) is a revolving loan fund that will pay for tuition fees for short-term training programs and provide a stipend for a participant’s housing, child care, transportation and/or other necessities, said Meaghan Dennison, the fund’s CEO.

“We also intend to ensure that those financed by The Forward Fund are connected to needed wraparound services and hopefully utilizing the nonprofit network … because we’re well aware that financial barriers are not the only barriers preventing folks from taking advantage of some of these short-term trainings,” Dennison said.

She said she hopes TFF’s pilot will include 50 people who want to complete high-graduation, high-job placement programs such as the electrical line worker and commercial truck driving courses at CFCC.

“Currently, we plan to start with the skilled trades and largely programs at Cape Fear Community College,” said Dennison, whose fund evolved from a test project within nonprofit Cape Fear Collective. “Moving forward, we think there are also a lot of opportunities in health care and then also for some short-term tech programs.”

Of the fund’s $6.8 million, $3 million came from a New Hanover Community Endowment grant. The other dollars came from individuals and corporate grants, Dennison said.

The Health Care Transformation Project, a partnership othat includes the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, UNCW, CFCC and New Hanover County Schools and other organizations, is also working to remove educational barriers.

The collaboration, boosted by $22 million total in multi-year New Hanover Community Endowment grants, focuses on recruitment, training and retention of skilled health care professionals in New Hanover County, officials said when the grants were announced in December.

The Wilmington Chamber of Commerce is one of the collaboration’s partners, but it is also working on other workforce programs that address everything from providing potential employees with information to industry introductions for older schoolchildren.

Megan Mullins, the chamber’s chief marketing and engagement officer, said the chamber is developing a digital strategy targeting highly skilled engineers of various kinds, such as nuclear, software, mechanical, structural and industrial.

The marketing strategy is focused on the kinds of engineers not currently being produced in Wilmington at area educational institutions, and the effort will drive traffic to nccareercoast.com, launched last year.

In another workforce effort, the chamber convened a Supply Chain and Logistics Council, the most recent of the organization’s industry-specific councils.

“When you can bring a group of (same-industry) employers together and leave the competition at the door,” English said, “amazing things can happen to assist and aid in their growth.”