1000 in 100 Business Visits Underway

Beginning September 16th, teams of workforce development  partners from High Country counties will begin visiting local businesses to hear their challenges and successes related to finding and retaining high-quality employees. These visits are part of Governor Pat McCrory’s “1,000 in 100” initiative announced last spring as part of NCWorks.

“1,000 in 100” refers to the Governor’s call to have local teams visit 1,000 businesses of all types in all 100 counties in the last 100 days of 2014.

“We want to know first hand about the challenges employers are facing finding the right talent,” said Adrian Tait, Director of the High Country Workforce Development Board. “Then the workforce system partners can respond as a team to meet these needs.”

The High Country effort is being led by representatives from workforce development and local community colleges, who serve as  co-chairs and includes representatives from K-12 schools, chambers of commerce, economic development and NCWorks Career Centers.

The team has been meeting since August and has selected both the companies for  each visit as well as the teams to conduct the visits.

“This is a great opportunity for the High Country to build on our past partnerships, get face-to-face with businesses, hear concerns, develop solutions, and lay the foundation for   how we work together in the future,” Tait said.

The “1,000 in 100” initiative will conclude at the end of the year, but the information gathered will be paired with other research and best practices to develop recommendations for changes within North Carolina’s workforce system to better serve businesses and citizens.