LUMBERTON — The manufacturing shift was the topic of the August 2024 roundtable discussion by Business North Carolina Magazine, as companies everywhere seek ways to adapt to new technologies to become more efficient and effective.

As North Carolina makes the shift from an economy built on agriculture, furniture and textiles, the state economy is becoming more globalized and knowledge-based, but manufacturing remains essential.

Serving as a panelist for the roundtable with leaders in manufacturing from across North Carolina was Robeson Community College’s Ramah “Cassidy” Campbell, who is the dean of public service and applied technology.

Campbell was joined by Kathryn Caspar, the vice president of operations at JELD-WEN; Derrick Evatt, the vice president of electronic manufacturing services with SMT Inc.; Geoff Foster, the CEO and President of Core Technology Molding; Jenni Harris, the executive director of business services at the North Carolina Department of Commerce; and Phil Mintz, the executive director of N.C. State University Industry Expansion Solutions and director of the North Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

“The biggest challenge is having a trained and qualified workforce,” Campbell stated. “We often hear companies express the need of just maintaining that well-trained workforce to fill their needs. This has led us to focus on training and development of a skilled manufacturing workforce and making the training more accessible as well.”

Campbell shared that Robeson Community College has taken a proactive approach to help fill the gap as employers seek to fill positions by creating stackable credentials through short-term training. A task that starts first with discussions locally with manufacturers to see what the needs are in terms of training and how RCC can design courses to meet the needs of the workforce.

“We really need their feedback to tell us exactly what they’re looking for in these students so when they go out and become employees, they’re ready,” Campbell said. “We rely heavily on their feedback.”

Partnerships, collaboration, and open dialogue, Campbell says, are key to ensuring that Robeson Community College is doing its part in ensuring that what students are learning aligns with the skills employers are seeking, building the workforce of today for the needs of tomorrow.

“We’re really excited about building strong partnerships with our community and being able to serve their needs with better programs, better pathways and a new curriculum that focuses on automated design and manufacturing,” Campbell stated. “We recently hired an apprenticeship coordinator to go out in the field and develop these relationships.”

As technology continues to increase and manufacturing becomes more advanced, Campbell assures that at Robeson Community College, “we want to make sure we go above and beyond” by producing highly trained graduates who will meet the industry standards of the workforce in Robeson County and beyond.

“Our students want to stay local, which is a major advantage to us,” Campbell said. “We want to make sure our students are able to adapt to new technology and go out very skilled in a position where they are more than qualified.”