Future focused: Catawba County is looking forward thanks to workforce-development programs and retrofits of its manufacturing past.

• Author: Wood, Suzanne
• Position: SPONSORED SECTION: REGIONAL FOCUS: CATAWBA COUNTY

Catawba County commissioners face a big challenge. Demographic surveys predict the county will lose school-aged residents and prime-aged workers over the next 20 years. For a county with a population of about 156,000 in July 2015, that attrition will be significant, says Garrett Hinshaw, president of Hickory-based Catawba Valley Community College. Commissioners asked him and other school and business leaders to develop a plan to keep those worrisome projections from becoming reality. Their response was K-64.

The workforce-development plan's name reflects a worker's lifespan, from kindergarten to retirement age. "Although we've been talking as a county about workforce issues for years, there has never been a concerted effort [to address them]," Hinshaw says. "The vision for this initiative is that we begin early--hence the 'K'--identifying talent to get students interested in the jobs offered by our local companies." Its premise is expansive, too. K-64 will assemble resources to train young county residents and retrain experienced or displaced workers for well-paying jobs available locally, so they don't feel the need to leave. That training will result in two- and four-year degrees and technical credentials.

K-64 will start by integrating more technology in schools, so every student has access to a computer or digital device such as a tablet. Their education will include more character development and leadership skills. Teachers will be shown how to incorporate technology into lesson plans. Work-based learning will be a priority. Internships and job shadowing will be arranged for students, and local employers will be invited to schools. The latter will spur employer engagement, helping schools, colleges and universities quickly react to changing workforce needs. The plan also will help midcareer or displaced workers access locally available retraining or education opportunities and industry credentials.

Catawba County, its municipalities and three school districts, local chambers of commerce and businesses, and CVCC will pull together to make K-64 work. Hinshaw estimates it will cost about $4 million a year, and the plan is awaiting seed money from commissioners. "This whole community is really getting focused on the things we need to address to set us apart [from other communities] in terms of talent development."

Catawba County was established in 1842, when agriculture was its main industry. That changed in 1902, when furniture-maker Hickory White opened. Now known as Hickory Springs Manufacturing Co., it's the country's oldest furniture manufacturer operating at its original site. Others followed, and after World War II, as much as 60% of U.S. furniture was made within 200 miles of Catawba County. But as the decades passed, manufacturers began moving production overseas, where lower costs, including labor, helped raise their profits. The trend is starting to work in reverse. Rising wages in Southeast Asia, advances in manufacturing technology, higher delivery costs and consumer demand for better quality items have pushed some manufacturers to reshore production.

Manufacturing never completely left Catawba County. In fact, new companies arrived. Today, between 40% and 60% of the world's fiber optics, for example, are made in Catawba County. The factories, including those that make furniture, are much different than those of just a few decades ago. Dirt, noise and back-breaking labor have been replaced with cleanrooms, gently humming computers and push-button technology. That requires a new workforce and a new attitude about manufacturing careers. K-64 is just one effort to build both. Furniture Academy is a second.

CVCC opened Furniture Academy in 2014 with assistance from Hickory-based Century Furniture LLC, Conover-based LEE Industries Inc., High Point-based Lexington Home Brands LLC, Hickory-based Sherrill Furniture Co., Conover-based Vanguard Furniture Co. and several community organizations. It was their answer to developing the skilled workers the companies need but can't find. It has trained about 35 students each year.

To meet increased demand, CVCC opened a second Furniture Academy campus in Taylorsville in July. And in December 2016, the original Furniture Academy moved to a 38,000-square-foot building on Newton's Locust Street that once housed the Old Hickory Tannery. The waiting list for enrollment had expanded to several hundred, more than could be trained in the original 6,000-square-foot space on CVCC's main campus.

Furniture Academy students study seven specific skill sets: manual cutting, automated cutting, pattern making, sewing, spring-up, inside...