Labor And Traning / Workforce Training & Education

As part of Wake County, Zebulon business and industry have access to excellent workforce training programs.  A multitude of services are offered focused towards helping area residents find employment, improving the education and training of the local workforce and assisting area businesses in filling their job openings.  In addition, the Wake County region is founded on education.  Accessibility to a variety of top-notch universities, colleges, and vocational schools promotes a strong workforce and economy.  See several programs and services below that are enhancing local business and industry enterprise in Wake County.

Centennial Campus

www.centennial.ncsu.edu

North Carolina State’s campus of the future is host to more than 100 companies and agencies creating a research and advanced technology community.  Centennial fosters a partnership among university, industry and government in order to produce scientific and technical innovations.  Linking University resources with corporate and government partners provides unique benefits to both sides.

For the corporate and government partners, access to intelligent people, cutting edge research and superior facilities and equipment equals competitive advantage in the market place. Corporate and government partners find convenient access to the research and development expertise existing in NCSU faculty, specialized facilities and equipment, and students who are eager to apply their knowledge to real-world problems. Such access leads to positive economic benefit for the company and the people of North Carolina.

For NC State, the partnership between government and corporate sectors increase financial support for research and provides opportunities for students to gain experience in the corporate world. Graduate and undergraduate students have more possibilities in internship and cooperative education assignments.

This complementary mixture of university faculty, students and research centers, industry and government results in technological innovation, real-world teaching and learning, guaranteed business investment and a desirable quality of life.

A list of participating corporate partners can be found at www.centennial.ncsu.edu/directory/corporate.html

NC State University Precision Marketing Initiative

http://www.raleigh-wake.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&filename=precisionmarketing.html

This marketing initiative is a partnership between Wake County Economic Development and NC State University to utilize the strengths and established relationships of the university to create new jobs.  The precision marketing team was developed to work with university staff to acquire high-potential leads on companies match the regions’ target markets and R&D capabilities.  The economic developers will create a customized sales and marketing approach involving top researchers who can speak to the needs of the targeted companies, and work those contacts to attract new investment to the county. 

The first target market of the Wake County-NC State partnership is North Carolina’s textile industry.  While the state has lost thousands of jobs in traditional woven textile manufacturing operations, non-woven textiles are a $3 billion industry in North Carolina and growing rapidly.  The focus is on science leading to a new generation of textiles.  The partnership has identified more than 300 companies in the textile sector that are potential investors.  North Carolina State’s cutting-edge research in textiles will lead to pilot plants, which in turn lead to manufacturing.  The mission of the precision marketing initiative is to bring more of the research and development and pilot plants to the county with businesses Wake County knows well.  By attracting R&D and pilot plants in Wake County, new permanent manufacturing opportunities in surrounding counties will evolve.  Wake’s outlying rural counties are attractive to new industry and business with lower land and labor costs and close proximity to the R&D at NC State.

For more information on the Wake County’s precision marketing initiative, contact the center at  (919) 664-7041 or catkins@the-chamber.org or Ted Morris (919) 513-0388 or ted_morris@nscu.edu.

JobLink

JobLink is provided by North Carolina Department of Commerce.  The mission of the organization is to improve North Carolina’s workforce and strengthen the state’s economy by developing a system of Career Centers.  Career centers offer a variety of services to both employers and employees.

The center offers labor market information, provides access to career training and job placement services, and serves as the connection between employers and qualified workers.  Many utilize the career planning, training, and placement services created by Joblink.  The end result for the community is well trained North Carolinians working in productive jobs and creating a strong state and local economy.  The benefits to the employer are the opportunity to recruit applicants who have been assessed and meet the employers’ needs.   

Career centers provide information about the labor market, workforce, and hiring incentives.  Businesses can take advantage of the program’s ability to tailor the service to meet employers hiring and training requirements for new employees.  Overall, JobLink has developed one of the best comprehensive and efficient workforce development systems.

Zebulon/Wake County Career Center

Capital Area JobLink Career Center-Eastern Regional Center

1002 Dogwood Drive

Zebulon, NC 27597

Phone: 919-404-3900

Contact:  Pauline High

Email:  pauline.high@co.wake.nc.us

The Research Triangle Regional Partnership (RTRP)

www.researchtriangle.org

RTRP is a regional marketing organization comprised of a partnership of economic development agencies working jointly with the North Carolina Department of commerce.  The Group markets the 13-county Research Triangle Region of North Carolina for the economic benefit of its communities.  The focus of the partnership is to promote the growth of 10 industry clusters where the region has a competitive advantage. 

The 10 clusters are:

• Pharmaceuticals              
• Biological agents and infectious diseases
• Agricultural biotechnology
• Pervasive computing
• Advanced medical care
• Analytical instrumentation
• Nanoscale technologies
• Informatics
• Vehicle component parts
• Logistics and distribution

Due to the extensive research and development in these industries, the region has the potential to create significant numbers of new jobs in both rural and urban areas.  Both residents and businesses reap the rewards of this effort.