The North Carolina Community College System’s Economic Development Division provides education, training, and support for new and existing businesses, aiming to boost the state’s economy through workforce development. It offers customized training (through an initiative called NCEdge), support for new ventures through programs like the Small Business Center Network, training for food and beverage and life sciences companies through BioNetwork, and apprenticeship programs like ApprenticeshipNC.
The division serves as a key link between community colleges, businesses, and government agencies to drive economic growth across all 100 North Carolina counties. Pulse 2.0 interviewed the Vice President of the North Carolina Community College System’s Economic Development Division, John Loyack, to learn more.
Driver For Statewide Economic Development
How is NCCCS positioning itself as a driver of statewide economic development in the next decade? Loyack said:
“The North Carolina Community College System is the state’s workforce engine, and over the next decade, that role becomes even more central. Each year, the NCEdge customized training team provides support to more than 150 employers across the state, from Toyota’s battery plant to Pratt & Whitney’s advanced manufacturing facility, and that ability to scale quickly is a major reason North Carolina continues to lead the nation in business climate and workforce development.
Alongside NCEdge, additional programs like ApprenticeshipNC, the Small Business Center Network, and BioNetwork allow us to serve every part of the economy: existing industries, new investments, entrepreneurs, and fast-growing life science companies. We stay aligned with statewide strategy partners, including our state’s economic developers, but the workforce execution that makes North Carolina competitive lives with our colleges.”
Partnerships
What public-private partnerships have been most impactful in bridging skill gaps? Loyack shared:
“Our most impactful partnerships are the ones where employers see NCCCS as a long-term workforce partner, not a transactional training provider. A great example is our work with Eli Lilly, where our BioNetwork team, Durham Tech, and the NCEdge team built a comprehensive workforce strategy around GMP training, BioWork pipelines, aseptic processing, and customized incumbent-worker training.
We see the same model with Toyota, Pratt & Whitney, and Novo Nordisk, where NCEdge coordinates multi-year training roadmaps, ApprenticeshipNC builds structured pipelines, and the SBCN strengthens the supplier and entrepreneurship ecosystem around the employer. These integrated partnerships close skill gaps because they align training, technology, and workforce planning from day one.”
Adapting Workforce Training
How is NCCCS adapting workforce training to meet the needs of advanced manufacturing, life sciences, and clean energy? Loyack explained:
“Adaptability has become North Carolina’s competitive advantage, and the Community College System is intentional about designing workforce training that moves at the speed of industry. Through NCEdge, our colleges build programs directly with employers, ensuring training aligns with the technologies and competencies companies need right now. This includes robotics, automation, industrial maintenance, mechatronics, quality systems, supervisory development, and other critical skill areas.
You can see this approach in action with Toyota’s battery manufacturing facility, where colleges developed new training models around emerging technologies almost as soon as the project was announced. That level of responsiveness is now a standard expectation across our system.”
In the life sciences, our BioNetwork program provides industry-specific training that companies like Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Fujifilm Diosynth depend on to scale their talent pipelines. And through ApprenticeshipNC, we’re strengthening earn-and-learn pathways that support both current and future skill needs across advanced manufacturing, biotech, and clean energy.
Together, these initiatives ensure that North Carolina’s workforce is not only prepared for today’s jobs but is positioned to grow with the industries that are shaping our state’s economic future.”
Collaborating With Economic Development Organizations
How does NCCCS collaborate with regional economic development organizations to align education with labor-market needs? Loyack pointed out:
“With 58 colleges and more than 200 facilities around the state, NCCCS is a critical part of every region’s economic development team. NCEdge regional directors partner closely with local EDOs, chambers, workforce boards, and community leadership to align education and training with real-time labor-market needs.
One great example would be our work with GE Aerospace and their four major manufacturing facilities in the state, where multiple colleges are working with regional partners to align aerospace, composites, and advanced manufacturing pathways each and every day.
When statewide recruitment efforts bring opportunities into a region, our colleges are already positioned to translate those opportunities into actionable workforce plans. That’s where ApprenticeshipNC, SBCN, and BioNetwork often plug in to reinforce the entire ecosystem around employers.”
Role Of Apprenticeship And Work-Based Learning
What role do apprenticeship and work-based learning play, and how is NCCCS expanding them? Loyack emphasized:
“ApprenticeshipNC is one of our strongest tools because it gives employers a reliable way to grow their own talent. Siemens Energy is a standout example, their advanced manufacturing apprenticeship is recognized nationally as a model program.
In the life-science space, CSL Seqirus, FUJIFILM Biotechnologies, Novo Nordisk and others have learned together that apprenticeships are an important pipeline for highly skilled technicians.
We’re expanding in three ways:
- Employer-led consortia so smaller companies can share the apprenticeship infrastructure;
- Embedding apprenticeship options into more NCEdge training plans; and
- Growing youth and pre-apprenticeship pathways connected to programs like BioWork, mechatronics, and the trades.
Work-based learning is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s one of the clearest ways we meet employers’ long-term workforce needs.”
Leveraging Data, AI, And Analytics For Forecasting Workforce Demand
How is NCCCS leveraging data, AI, and analytics to forecast workforce demand and guide curriculum? Loyack described:
“Our data starts with real employers. Through NCEdge, we have daily insight into skill shifts across companies like Pratt & Whitney, Toyota, and Eli Lilly. We pair that with labor-market analytics, ApprenticeshipNC sponsor feedback, SBCN insights from entrepreneurs, and industry advisory input from BioNetwork.
That helps us update curriculum, stand up new short-term credentials, and make targeted equipment investments. Our next step is predictive analytics, using all that data to anticipate workforce needs before they become shortages.”
Example Of A Major Recruitment Initiative
Can you share an example where a community college partnership directly contributed to a major recruitment or expansion? Loyack cited:
“Eli Lilly is a great example. Durham Tech, BioNetwork, and NCEdge built a comprehensive workforce proposal including BioWork pipelines, GMP and aseptic training, customized technical instruction, and leadership development. The integrated approach showed Lilly that North Carolina could deliver a specialized workforce at scale.
Toyota is another case. The workforce strategy we put forward, involving multiple colleges, NCEdge-driven training, and apprenticeship pathways, gave the company confidence in the region’s long-term talent pipeline. These projects succeed because our colleges can execute what we promise.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges do community colleges face in scaling workforce programs quickly enough, and how is NCCCS addressing them? Loyack acknowledged:
“The primary challenge is speed. Advanced manufacturing and life-science projects often require hundreds of workers on tight timelines. The strength of NCCCS is that we can respond as a system…58 colleges working together, not individually.
Across the state, we have multiple examples where several colleges shared instructors, equipment, and training capacity through NCEdge to meet rapid workforce needs. Plus, ApprenticeshipNC builds long-term pipelines so companies aren’t constantly in emergency-hire mode. And, BioNetwork provides specialized labs that smaller colleges can access; and the SBCN strengthens the local supplier ecosystem.”
Supporting Underserved Communities
How is NCCCS supporting rural and underserved communities to ensure equitable access to workforce opportunities? Loyack noted:
“Equity is built into our structure. Every North Carolinian is close to a community college, and we take our programs directly into rural and underserved regions. NCEdge delivers customized training inside rural manufacturing facilities, and ApprenticeshipNC provides earn-and-learn pathways that allow residents to build careers close to home.
The Small Business Center Network supports rural entrepreneurs with free counseling and training, and we’ve seen strong growth in rural manufacturing and food-product companies through SBC support. And BioNetwork’s Food, Beverage & Natural Products Center at AB-Tech is a great example of a sector-specific resource driving rural economic opportunity.”
Long-Term Vision
What is your long-term vision for how community colleges can redefine economic development? Loyack concluded:
“My vision is that North Carolina becomes known internationally as the state where community colleges are the main competitive advantage of our economic development community. When companies like Toyota, Lilly, Siemens, or Pratt & Whitney choose North Carolina, they consistently tell us the same thing: the workforce system, our colleges, is why they’re confident investing here.
Statewide partners help create opportunity, but our colleges build the workforce that turns opportunity into sustained economic growth. Through NCEdge, ApprenticeshipNC, the SBCN, and BioNetwork, we’re building the most responsive, employer-aligned workforce system in the country. That’s how community colleges redefine economic development — by driving it.”
