Initiative brings Good Jobs WNC investment home to McDowell
COMMENTARY | MTCC'S M3 INITIATIVE
J.W. KELLEY
On Thursday, Sept. 24, America achieves announced $3.3 million in new philanthropic commitments to Good Jobs Western North Carolina, including a $1 million, two-year commitment from the Rockefeller Foundation that triggered a $2 million matching commitment from the John M. Belk endowment. the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation has also joined the funding coalition. the announcement comes as $3.2 million in previously raised funds is being awarded to 11 western North Carolina community colleges to help connect 1,200 people with good jobs, promising jobs, and work-based learning opportunities in manufacturing, healthcare and the skilled trades. McDowell tech is one of those 11 colleges, and its piece of that larger regional effort is McDowell Manufacturing Momentum, or M3.
The college's three-year vision is to prove the model in 2026, scale it in 2027, and ultimately institutionalize M3 as a workforce pipeline that employers and workers routinely turn to for hiring, training and career advancement.
"We don't want to train someone and simply wish them luck as they walk out the door," said Annie Duncan, McDowell tech coordinator of career connections. "We want to help someone find an opportunity, prepare for it, get the job, keep the job, and then have a pathway to the next opportunity."
A major new investment in western North Carolina's workforce is helping McDowell Technical Community College build a new pathway connecting local residents directly to manufacturing careers.
On Thursday, Sept. 24, America Achieves announced $3.3 million in new philanthropic commitments to Good Jobs Western North Carolina, including a $1 million, two-year commitment from The Rockefeller Foundation that triggered a $2 million matching commitment from the John M. Belk Endowment. The North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation has also joined the funding coalition. The announcement comes as $3.2 million in previously raised funds is being awarded to 11 western North Carolina community colleges to help connect 1,200 people with good jobs, promising jobs, and work based learning opportunities in manufacturing, healthcare and the skilled trades.
McDowell Tech is one of those 11 colleges, and its piece of that larger regional effort is McDowell Manufacturing Momentum, or M3.
For McDowell Tech, the decision to focus on manufacturing grew directly from the needs of the community. Manufacturing accounts for 38.3% of McDowell County's private-sector employment, ranking the county fourth among North Carolina's 100 counties and more than three times the statewide rate of 10.9%. At the same time, local manufacturers have consistently told college leaders that they need more people and help filling open positions.
"We listened to our manufacturing partners, and they were remarkably consistent," said McDowell Tech Vice President Stacy Buff. "They have good jobs available, but they need people prepared to step into those jobs and succeed. We realized the answer wasn't necessarily another degree program. We needed another doorway into the workforce."
That doorway became M3.
A pathway into a career — not just a training program
M3 is a three-level workforce-to-career model designed to meet people where they are. It serves high school students, job seekers, underemployed adults, incumbent workers, and others interested in manufacturing careers. Participants can enter the workforce relatively quickly while retaining pathways to additional credentials, apprenticeships, degrees, and career advancement.
The first level focuses on the skills employers say new workers need to succeed: employability skills, manufacturing fundamentals, OSHA 10, workplace expectations, and industry-recognized safety training.
Participants also receive guaranteed interviews with participating employers. From there, individuals can progress into additional industry credentials, employer tours, job shadowing and work-based learning, and eventually into associate degree pathways, apprenticeships and higher-skilled manufacturing careers.
Employers are involved throughout the process rather than simply waiting at the end to hire graduates. That employer-driven approach reflects a simple M3 philosophy: Listen.
Prepare. Retain. Listen to what manufacturers need from new employees. Prepare people with the skills and realistic expectations necessary to succeed. Then work with employers to help those employees remain and advance.
"We don't want to train someone and simply wish them luck as they walk out the door," said Annie Duncan, McDowell Tech coordinator of career connections. "We want to help someone find an opportunity, prepare for it, get the job, keep the job, and then have a pathway to the next opportunity."
The college's newly redesigned Career Connections Center will play an important role in that work.
Building something that lasts
The additional national investment announced recently provides new momentum for a Good Jobs WNC effort that grew out of western North Carolina's recovery from Hurricane Helene.
EdNC reported that the regional coalition spans 23 counties and brings together 11 community colleges, employers, foundations, and other partners around the goal of connecting 1,200 western North Carolinians to good jobs over three years. The initiative is also included in the state's newly released western North Carolina Economic Recovery Plan.
At McDowell Tech, however, M3 is being designed to last beyond the initial Good Jobs investment.
The college's three-year vision is to prove the model in 2026, scale it in 2027, and ultimately institutionalize M3 as a workforce pipeline that employers and workers routinely turn to for hiring, training and career advancement.
"The grant is incredibly important, but our goal isn't to create something that disappears when a grant ends," said Alan Moore, McDowell Tech dean of workforce credentialing & career pathways. "We want to build something that becomes part of how McDowell County connects people, education, and industry."
The college's sustainability plan calls for combining employer support, college investment, grants and revenue-generating training while demonstrating enough value that employers continue investing their time, resources and opportunities. As the M3 planning team has put it, funding should help build the engine, not become the engine.
Because it's personal
For all the discussion about workforce systems, economic recovery, credentials and jobs, the college's motivation for M3 is much simpler.
It's about people. When we say we want someone to get a good job, we're talking about one of our neighbors. We're talking about a parent who wants something better for his or her family. We're talking about a high school graduate trying to figure out what comes next. We're talking about someone who may have been working for years but needs an opportunity to move forward. And we're talking about employers who aren't just companies on a spreadsheet; they're people we know who are trying to keep their businesses strong and their employees working.
That personal connection has been especially important in McDowell County following Hurricane Helene. The M3 presentation shared at the Good Jobs WNC Summit began not with workforce statistics, but with the storm's impact on the community and McDowell Tech's response of finding people, serving neighbors and ultimately using the college's workforce mission to help the community recover.
Helene reminded us just how connected we are to one another. At McDowell Tech, taking care of people isn't a program or an initiative. It's personal. Whether you're a student walking onto our campus for the first time, an employee who has served here for years, or a local employer looking for the people who will carry your company forward, we want you to know that you matter here.
That's what M3 is ultimately about. People taking care of people and creating opportunities for one another. Students, employees, employers and our community should know that at McDowell Tech, you are Right Where You Belong.
Start your M3 path by visiting the Career Center (https://mcdowelltech.edu/ career-center/).
