North Carolina, like many other states, faces a severe shortage of manufacturing workers as companies bring their operations back to the United States. The N.C. Department of Commerce estimates that the state will need nearly 500,000 more manufacturing workers by 2028 – almost 7,500 in the Wilmington area alone.

Ahead of Friday's Greater Wilmington Business Journal cover story focusing on training and the workforce pipeline for the area’s manufacturing sector,  officials working on that topic joined us for Thursday’s BizTalk.

The Business Journal spoke with Cape Fear Community College officials on training initiatives as well as local manufacturers about what they’re seeing in the market and how they’re planning for future needs.

View the full BizTalk conversation below. Also listen to this and future weekly WilmingtonBiz Talk discussions on the Business Journal's podcast, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher.