Community College and Industry Partner for Economic Development: North Carolina

Wilkes Community College is the leader of the Northwest North Carolina Advanced Materials Cluster, Inc. (Cluster), "a public/private partnership for economic development focused on enhancing research, education, and economic infrastructure."Read this League for Innovation Leadership Abstract to learn more:

The Cluster (www.advancedmaterialsnc.org) formed in January 2004, when county managers of Wilkes, Ashe, and Alleghany Counties joined WCC to create a sustainable economy in northwest North Carolina. Under the direction of WCC, the Cluster forged partnerships among a number of industries, educational institutions, and governmental agencies. An executive committee guides the mission of research, education, job growth, and infrastructure. Collaboratively, the committee makes strategic decisions regarding programs, organizational structure, and partnerships. What began as a three-county economic development effort under the leadership of their community college has now grown to encompass several counties, partners, and networks across the state.

As the three-county service area’s higher education institution, WCC saw the webs of interconnections that weave the region together; became more aware that the region lives in relationship, connected to everything else; and learned that profoundly different processes explain how open systems emerge and change. Many disciplines, in different sectors and voices, now speak about the advantages of networks, the value of relationships, the importance of context, and new ways to honor and work with wholeness.