FROM SOIL TO SKY: Educational partnerships and a focus on drones create jobs across the East's 29 counties.

The NC East Alliance economic development organization is initiating a homegrown approach through educational resources to create a continual, skilled workforce in its 29 Coastal Plain counties.

STEM East connects school district faculties and superintendents, and leadership of 10 community colleges, with employers for careers that utilize science, technology, engineering and math.

"NC East is the only regional economic development organization focusing on our 13,000 teachers in 29 counties as a workforce," says Vann Rogerson, the Alliance's president and CEO.

The Alliance's Industry in Schools career clusters for FY 2023-2024 will train teachers and faculty through public-private partnerships so they can educate students in career-specific pathways.

California-based BelleJAR Foundation has pledged $ 1.6 million to help. The Alliance received the first of four annual checks--$400,000--last summer from the foundation, which seeks "unique and innovative approaches to improve educational outcomes for underserved students," according to its website.

Industry in Schools "provides an opportunity for teachers to engage with regional industry to design instructional programming and classroom activities that align with curriculum standards," according to the STEM East website.

While funding for Industry in Schools remains an agenda item with the legislature, some events are taking place.

"We're coming together to solve workforce issues in the region," says Trey Goodson, the Alliance's regional economic developer and director of marketing and communications. "Some areas are health science, aviation sciences, agriculture, advanced manufacturing, the blue economy of boat building, marine trades, tourism and renewables and alternative energies."

Last summer, NE East Alliance hosted workshops in Health Sciences, at Pitt Community College; Aviation Science, at Craven Community College; and Smart Agriculture, at James Sprunt Community College in Kenansville.

While other announcements are forthcoming, Goodson says, "Through these programs, we help teachers learn about these job opportunities and training opportunities for their students to pursue some long-term careers in eastern North Carolina that people may not be aware of."

One area with multiple jobs is agriculture.

Gary Roberson is a distinguished professor and cooperative extension specialist in the Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department at N.C. State. North Carolina has 8.4 million acres of farmland and leads the country in tobacco and sweet potato production. Agriculture contributes about $76 billion to the state economy.

"I have worked with the STEM East program. Agriculture is changing. It is no longer a business where you can learn all you need to know by just listening to your parents or neighbors," Roberson says. "The modern farmer is part businessman, entrepreneur, crop and soil scientist, machinery technician, personnel manager and marketing specialist. The list could go on and on. We need to increase our productivity in order to continue to meet the demands of a growing world. At the same time, we need to be good stewards of our resources for efficient production. This will require a well-prepared farm community and a well-prepared support community. Farmers will need support services they can depend on to keep modern machinery running at peak efficiency. The demands and opportunities for a local workforce are certainly there."

Beaufort County on the banks of the Pamlico River also sees "demands and opportunities," with incoming industries and an undertaking at its Washington-Warren Airport that will have ripple effects throughout the territory of the NCEast Alliance works with.

"All of what makes North Carolina great is on display here in Beaufort County, where...