Mountain Area Workforce Development Board meeting notice
Mountain Area Workforce Development Board will meet
tomorrow, Tuesday, March 27 at 3:00 pm at Western Carolina University's Biltmore Park Instructional Site
, 28 Schenck Parkway #100, Asheville, NC 28803.
There will be a meet & greet prior to the meeting at 2:30 pm. Please park in Levels 3.4, or 5 of the parking garage adjacent to the WCU site. Parking in any other location is subject to towing and fines.
The meeting is open to the public and everyone is invited to attend. An agenda and meeting documents can be accessed at the link below. Additional board documents will be added to this link later today. The meeting will be dedicated to Board strategic planning.
Please note the change in the meeting location from the offices of Land of Sky Regional Council.
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NC Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary Will Miller with members of the Board. Deputy Secretary Miller made a presentation to the Board on Governor Cooper's "NC Job Ready" initiative at the February 2018 board meeting
.
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Board Chair Terry Collins with Current by GE presents a plaque to Dr. Dan Lunsford, President of Mars Hill University in appreciation for his service on the Board at the February 2018 meeting.
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UpSkill WNC success story
UpSkill WNC is a program of the Board offered through AB Tech and Blue Ridge community College. The Board received a $200,000 WIOA NCWorks Service Innovation Grant from the NC Department of Commerce to support this initiative. The purpose of UpSkill WNC is to reach under-served communities and under-served populations with NCWorks employment, education and training services. The goal is to assist at least 100 individuals in obtaining employment in a career pathway with the job paying $15 per hour or more. Following is a story from Phillip Cooper with AB Tech about an individual he recently assisted.
"Tony was released from prison in November of 2013. He has taken some classes at A-B Tech, collaborated with a team of community members to start a Teen Program called
YTL
, and he has been active in the community since he has been free. Trust me, he is on fire. Tony connected with Change Agent Cooper about employment and had a heartfelt discussion about how he wants to work with ex-cons and help them “get their mind right”. Not too long after that, a job opening was posted at Goodwill for a Project Reentry Specialist. The Change Agent referred Tony and assisted with resume and interview techniques… Not too long after that, the Change Agent received a text message from Tony, saying that he got the job.
One of the UpSkill goals is to help individuals reach $15/hr, well guess what? The Project Reentry Specialist position goes over and beyond and the job has benefits. So, if you see Tony out in the community, be sure to congratulate him and if you need motivational speaking, he is also your man because he DEFINITELY has a story to tell."
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5,866
more people are working and
4,700
jobs were added in the region in the past year. Total regional employment is
206,847
.
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Mountain Area region continues to have NC's lowest unemployment rate
For January 2018, our region (Buncombe, Henderson, Madison and Transylvania Counties) continues to have the lowest unemployment rate at
3.8%
in NC, Buncombe County has the lowest rate of any county in NC at
3.6%
. Henderson County is tied with three other counties in the state for the #3 lowest rate at
3.9%
. Madison County is at
4.4%
and Transylvania County is at
4.7%
unemployment rate. All counties in our region are at or below the state unemployment rate of 4.7%.
For 36 consecutive months Buncombe County has maintained the lowest unemployment rate of any NC county. For 34 consecutive months the Mountain Area Workforce region (Buncombe, Henderson, Madison and Transylvania Counties) as well as the Asheville metro have maintained the lowest unemployment rate of any NC region.
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Asheville metro unemployment rate 3.7%
T
he Asheville metro (Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison Counties) continues to have the lowest unemployment rate of any NC metro at
3.7%
. In the past year 4,7
00
jobs were added in the metro.
In the past year since January 2017, the following sectors added jobs: Mining, Logging and Construction (300 jobs), Manufacturing (700 jobs), Financial Activities (200 jobs), Professional & Business Services (1,000 jobs), Education & Health Services (500 jobs), Leisure & Hospitality (1,200 jobs), Government (400 jobs) and Other Services (100 jobs). Information had no net change.
In the past year since January 2017, only the Information sector experienced a net job loss (-100 jobs). Other services were unchanged from December 2017.
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Mountain Area Career (MAC) Fair is coming soon!
Over 125 employers offering thousands of career opportunities will be available on
Tuesday, April 10, 2018 from 11:00 am - 6:00 pm at the Davis Event Center, WNC Agricultural Center in Fletcher
across from the Asheville Regional Airport.
This event is free for employers and job seekers. No registration is required for job seekers.
We have no additional space for employers. If your firm would like to participate, please contact Nathan@landofsky.org and we may possibly be able to accommodate your request if there are cancellations.
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Participating employers include Asheville Specialty Hospital, Avadim Technologies, Biltmore, CB&I, City of Asheville, Continental Automotive Systems, Digital Chalk, Eaton Corporation, Epsilon, GE Aviation, GL Linamar, Home Trust Bank, Jacob Holm Industries, Kanuga Conference Center, MB Haynes Corporation, McKibbon Hospitality, Meritor, Mission Health, Nypro Healthcare, Omni Grove Park Inn, NC Department of Public Safety, NC State Highway Patrol, Pardee UNC Healthcare, RISC Networks, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co, Thermo Fisher Scientific, UNC Asheville, UPM Raflatac, Young & McQueen and many more.
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Mountain Area Careers (MAC) highlights our region's career pathways in the Advanced Manufacturing and Hospitality & Tourism sectors
Our region has three "NCWorks Certified Career Pathways" in Advanced Manufacturing, Hospitality & Tourism and Healthcare which have been approved by the NCWorks Commission. Our Board has funding for training "Dislocated Workers" in these career pathways. To learn more contact Barbara Darby, Regional Business Services Coordinator for Mountain Area Workforce Development Board at barbarad@landofsky.org.
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Jennifer at Borg Warner Thermal in Henderson County
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Josh at Advanced Superabrasives (ASI) in Madison County
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Yolanda at Gaia Herbs in Transylvania County
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Katherine at Kanuga Conference Center in Henderson County
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Leigh at GE Aviation in Buncombe County
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Great turnout for the Experienced Works Job Fair at the NCWorks Career Center Asheville
Last Thursday, 15 local employers joined AARP of North Carolina and the NCWorks Career Center Asheville for a job fair designed specifically for 50+ job seekers who bring talent, skills, dependability and experience to the job. Over 70 job seekers attended.
Here is a comment from one of the job seeker attendees:
"Great event. the NCWorks folks were super hosts and available to answer questions and give advice."
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Mountain Area WDB is Now Hiring!
Kim Cox, Performance & Accountability Specialist with Mountain Area Workforce Development Board, will be retiring later this year. We are disappointed that Kim will be leaving us but she has certainly earned her retirement. Her departure will be a great loss for the Board and Land of Sky Regional Council. Kim does an outstanding job in her role and it will be very difficult to replace her knowledge, expertise and talent.
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Christian Fox: NCWorks NextGen Youth Success Story
Christian Fox began working with Goodwill’s WIOA NCWorks NextGen youth program in May 2016 when she decided that it was finally time to get serious about her education and earn a GED. She struggled for several years in low paying jobs because she didn’t have a high school diploma and she knew she wouldn’t get where she wanted to go without it. Christian studied hard, attended classes religiously, and took and passed all 4 tests within 6 months, all while working a full time job.
Meanwhile, we began discussing plans for continuing her education and she was instantly drawn to the Nurse Aide course. Christian attended night classes so that she could keep working and pick up a paid workplace experience to gain some exposure to the world of healthcare. Her hard work paid off in the summer of 2017 when she passed the course and earned her CNA license.
Christian was recognized as the 2017 Outstanding NCWorks NextGen Youth Participant for Goodwill’s WIOA program in December 2017 at the Mountain Area Workforce Development Board recognition luncheon. Her story and success stood out to many people in attendance, particularly to an HR Representative from Mission Health. Christian’s story led to a job offer at Mission Health and she will be starting in January 2018. Christian will also be continuing her education by pursuing a Phlebotomy license in spring 2018.
When asked what advice she would give to someone who needed to earn their GED or pursue more education, Christian said that it’s important to remember that your life isn’t over if you don’t do things in the order that society tells you to. If you just take the first step, you’ll find that there are plenty of people willing to help you along the way.
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