Filling demand: NCWorks helps businesses get qualified workers and residents quality jobs.

• Author: Wood, Suzanne
• Position: SPONSORED SECTION: WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Geoffrey Carter realized the employee-training program was a success when workers started asking questions. Goldsboro-based PCORE, which is owned by Shelton, Conn.-based Hubbell Inc. and makes components for the power-generation industry, had recently participated in a series of lean-manufacturing workshops emphasizing kaizen, the Japanese concept that advocates continuous small changes to achieve efficiency. "We've seen not only the benefits in individual project improvements, but our employees are starting to question things," says Carter, PCORE's head of operations. "Instead of being stuck in the mentality of, 'This is how we've always done things, this is what works,' they're actually asking, 'How can we improve this? How can we do it better? How can we eliminate waste?"'

Goldsboro-based Wayne Community College provided the kaizen training, along with safety and supervision lessons, through NC Works, an initiative of N.C. Department of Commerce Division of Workforce Solutions, N.C. Commission on Workforce Development and N.C. Community College System. It builds connections between jobs and residents. "The training from Wayne Community College has just been immeasurable in terms of the benefits to us," Carter says. "We're starting to see the payback in cost savings and time savings. It's something we couldn't have bought outside, and the fact that they're bringing the training to us just allows us to train more employees."

Trainers have worked with 33 PCORE employees so far, says Steve Herring, the college's customized training director. Over the next couple of years, he will develop and implement additional programs, including more continuous improvement and technical training in programmable logic controls, industrial math and blueprint reading. When PCORE first partnered with Wayne Community College in April, it had 38 employees. It expects to add 20 by the time the partnership ends in 2019.

Through NCWorks, all 58 community colleges are tasked with providing customized training at no cost to companies that meet job-creation or expansion requirements. Although not technically an incentive, growing companies clearly see customized training as a benefit. Its availability also can determine where a company chooses to locate. PCORE is one of more than 300 companies that have received customized training from the state. Many are manufacturers or assemblers; some are service providers. Regardless of what they do or how many employees they have, all recognize that their success is largely dependent on workforce.

Six years ago, Siemens Energy Inc., part of Germany-based Siemens AG, announced it was consolidating its gas-turbine manufacturing at an expanded factory in Charlotte. The first phase of the move would create about 660 jobs. Siemens estimated that after about five years, that...