Commissioners endorse myFutureNC

Apr. 12—LENOIR — The Caldwell County Board of Commissioners voted to adopt both state and local attainment goals recommended by myFutureNC to increase the number of individuals with post-secondary credentials or degrees in order to improve the local workforce.

Kim Case, the Northwest Prosperity Zone Regional Impact Manager for myFutureNC, presented the information to the commissioners Monday (April 10) and asked them to endorse the organization's goals and adopt an actionable attainment plan.

MyFutureNC is a statewide nonprofit organization formed in 2019 from the bipartisan legislation House Bill 664 with the goal of having 2 million 25-44 year olds in North Carolina who hold an industry-valued post-secondary degree or credential by 2030.

"That doesn't mean a four-year degree, that means any degree that leads to an industry-valued or high quality job," said Case. "We believe that a better educated North Carolina is the key to economic prosperity and upward mobility for all our citizens. Basically, that means we want better lives and better jobs for everyone, and we want to meet industry demands."

Right now, North Carolina is falling short of that goal by 444,000 individuals. Representatives from myFutureNC have met with state and local leaders from sectors across education, business, industry and government to establish local attainment plans to help reach the ultimate goal of 2 million.

"What this would mean for us is that we develop a plan to reach 11,149 total individuals [in Caldwell County]," said Case. "If we do everything we're already doing, projections say that we'll get 9,056 individuals. To reach our goal and do our share, we need 2,093 individuals. That would be our immediate goal, and of course our ultimate goal would be to build a plan that moves us into the future and keeps us moving forward ahead of workforce development initiatives for Caldwell County."

Case reported that for every 100 ninth graders who start on a post-secondary attainment pathway, less than a third complete that pathway, meaning only about 28 seniors receive a post-secondary credential or degree within six years of graduation.

"Now, as a parent, that mattered to me quite a bit that I had children who were entering the workforce within a timely manner," said Case. "MyFutureNC looks at that pipeline and at the ways that we can alleviate this and fill gaps."

MyFutureNC works through accelerating action, such as presentations to commissioners, school boards, or other community groups; identifying and advocating for policy solutions; and monitoring and reporting progress.

Each county in North Carolina has a local attainment profile that will be published every year in February moving forward. This data highlights local key performance indicators, such as NC Pre-K Enrollment and College and Career Access, to recommend local goals and identify opportunities for growth.

"NC Pre-K Enrollment is an indicator that we think is very important for two reasons," said Case. "It's workforce preparation for our earliest learners, but also because, if you don't have child care, you certainly can't go to work. That also is cutting into our current workforce immediately."

Case noted three categories with opportunities for growth across the state: Adult and Non-Traditional Learners; College and Career Ready in Math; and Opportunity Youth, which shows that one in every nine 16-24-year-olds are not employed or enrolled in school. This age range represents a critical period in an individual's transition into adulthood, and myFutureNC aims to support and connect these students to help them build a path to the future.

MyFutureNC also offers R.A.I.S.E. Scholarships (Reinforcement and Investment to Strengthen the Economy) to help learners pay for their credentials.

"How much is this going to cost us?" asked Commissioner Jeff Branch.

"It doesn't cost anything that you don't decide you want it to cost," Case replied. "Collaboration and making a plan together is free, what you choose as a local community to do then is up to each organization. I will say, the resolution that all the other organizations have adopted was reviewed by [N.C. Representative] Destin Hall, so there is no legal obligation as far as financial responsibility, unless you choose for there to be. That's up to you."

"I believe what myFutureNC brings together is what the county, county school system and the community college are all already doing ... puts them in a nice package and really focuses in on the attainment instead of being kind of scattered," said Vice Chairman Mike LaBrose. "It will really fill those empty job spaces. I think we all know that we have so many job openings for these skilled labor areas, and we just need to really focus and throw ideas together. I think it's a win-win for everybody."

The commissioners voted unanimously to approve this resolution and adopt the attainment goal of myFutureNC.

MyFutureNC's leadership is a cross-sector board of policy-makers, department heads, business and education leaders. The organization also has a 62-member advisory board of commissioners, of which Vice Chairman Mike LaBrose and CCC&TI President Dr. Mark Poarch are members.

For more information, visit www.myfuturenc.org.