Made to order: the N.C. Community College System's custom-training program finds and develops the employees that companies need.

• Position: COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRAINING PROGRAMS

The job description was straightforward. Candidates needed strong attention to detail, a good work record and a high school diploma or its equivalent. They also had to welcome working eight hours in a 40-degree cooler.

Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Acme Smoked Fish Corp. broke ground on a 100,000-square-foot cold-smoked salmon packaging plant--the largest in the country--in Wilmington in July 2014. It needed a workforce to meet the plant's annual output capacity of 10 million pounds. So it turned to Wilmington-based Cape Fear Community College to begin training workers soon after the announcement. "The No. 1 thing the company wanted help with was pre-employment screening," says Stefanie Adams, the college's customized training and workforce development director. Companies new to North Carolina often find that established organizations are better at reaching potential applicants because of their connections.

Adams and her staff created a three-hour pre-employment class that provided information on Acme and its products and working conditions. About 550 job-seekers attended the class. Some were cool to the idea of a cold workplace despite the promise of company-supplied insulated suits. One woman balked when an Acme executive mentioned that food-safety practices mandated employees keep their fingernails short. Getting that information before a formal interview gave many--including the woman who prized her long fingernails--an easy exit, saving time for everyone.

Screening applicants is one aspect of the custom training and development that the N.C. Community College System offers companies locating, expanding or upgrading technology in North Carolina. It has been one of the state's most effective economic-development tools since the 1950s and is offered through all 58 campuses statewide at no cost to companies.

Acme hired more than 120 of those who took the class at an average annual salary of $30,000. The headcount could rise to almost 160 this year if the company transfers a production line from New York. Cape Fear also provided food-safety training to the new hires and advanced food-safety instruction for Acme supervisors. That training was done by food-safety experts within the community college systems BioNetwork, which supports companies in life-science industries. "[The training is] one less thing [the company has] to pay for, and it helps them get off the ground," Adams says. It also ensures success continues. On tap for Acme are leadership, continuous improvement and specialty training. The last, covering ammonia refrigeration, will be offered in conjunction with a community college in Georgia that specializes in it.

The community college system's customized training operates under NC Works, which also involves N.C. Department of Commerce Division of Workforce Solutions and N.C. Commission on Workforce Development. In 2015, it helped 329 new-company or expansion projects and trained or screened 27,241 Tar Heels at a cost of about $9 million, says Maureen Little, the system's associate vice president for customized training. Almost 37,000 people were trained at a cost of $13.7 million when support to existing, non-expanding companies is included.

Colleges fill general workforce needs, too

The custom workforce training that the state's community colleges provide to new and existing companies is a vital economic-development tool. But it's not the only one. Each of the 58 campuses also prepares workforces for specific industries. This continuous supply of workers, who require minimal on-the-job training, is vital long-term support for many North Carolina businesses and industries. Here are four examples.

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