NEWS - Mountain Area Workforce

NC Department of Commerce, Division of Workforce Solutions initiated the Fierce Fellows program with Dr. Zeb Regan to support justice involved individuals across our state. Mountain Area Workforce Development Board successfully piloted this program with Dr. Regan in the fall of 2023.

The Fierce Fellows program is a soft skills class for justice involved with engaging discussions and knowledgeable material. Fierce Fellows equips individuals with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes for creating order, fostering strong family ties, promoting community engagement, and achieving meaningful, sustainable employment.

The students were enrolled in the Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA) which provided funding from the Mountain Area Workforce Development Board. The students who were enrolled were able to complete and received a certificate at the end of the four week program. The students received career counseling and employment related services from the NCWorks team.

Picture: Program participants at the end of the program at the NCWorks Career Center Asheville with representatives of the NC Department of Commerce and Mountain Area Workforce Development Board.

Mountain Area Workforce Development Board recognizes outstanding employers, job seekers, youth and workforce partners. See award winners here.

* Outstanding Employers
* Outstanding NCWorks NextGen Youth Participants
* Outstanding NCWorks WIOA Adult and Dislocated Worker Participants
* Deb Holebrooks Outstanding Customer Service Award
* Outstanding Workforce Collaboration
* Outstanding Workforce Development Leadership
* Bill Ragland Award
* Outstanding Education Leadership

WNC Employers:

Throughout the pandemic and even before, we’ve all heard from employers that they’re having a hard time hiring people they need to fill available jobs. We also know many people are disconnected from career opportunities.

We all see signs of this challenge every day: Sign on the coffee shop door saying they’re closed for lack of staff; Restaurants saying labor shortages have been the hardest thing about surviving the pandemic; the Asheville metro unemployment rate has dropped to 2.8% as of November 2021, making it the lowest for the region in more than 20 years.

As Workforce Development Leaders, we all want to do our part to help. But to solve a problem like this one, we have to understand it. That’s why we’re working together with organizations in our region on a project called the State of Our Workforce: Western NC. In short, it’s a survey. The goal is to study Western North Carolina’s workforce challenges and get the information we need to direct our ongoing workforce and economic development efforts.

The survey will ask employers in 10 counties questions about things like:
Your plans to hire new workers or expand their operations,
What types of skills and workers you’ll need in the future,
Where you look for new employees,
Any challenges you’re having hiring or growing, and
Your assessment of our region’s talent pool

We’ll use the survey results to develop data-driven strategies and recommendations to fill any gaps we find along the way. We need the most accurate & representational data we can get our hands on to be successful. That means we need businesses of all different sectors, sizes, and corners of our 10-county area to participate in the survey. Would you be willing to help us out by filling out the following survey and asking employers in your network to do the same?

SURVEY LINK: https://survey.alchemer.com/…/Land-of-Sky-Regional-Council

Short staffed?
or
Seeking a new career?
Check out the “Small Business is Big Business” Job Fair
Wednesday, Sept. 29 from 2 – 7 p.m.
Blue Ridge Community College Conference Hall

$18 per Hour and Beyond Job Fair
Mountain Area Workforce Development will be holding a $18 per Hour and Beyond Job Fair on Tuesday, August 10, 2021 from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm at the WNC Agricultural Center’s Virginia Boone Building. The Virginia Boone Building is located across from the Asheville Regional Airport on NC280, Boylston Highway. The entrance to the job fair will be off of NC280 (Boylston Highway) at Gate 5. This job fair will feature over 70 local employers who are offering jobs paying $18 per hour and more. Press Release * Employers scheduled to attend * Jobs Available

$17 per Hour and Beyond Job Fair
Mountain Area Workforce Development will be holding a $17 per Hour and Beyond Job Fair on Tuesday, June 15, 2021 from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm at the WNC Agricultural Center’s Virginia Boone Building. The Virginia Boone Building is located across from the Asheville Regional Airport on NC280, Boylston Highway. The entrance to the job fair will be off of NC280 (Boylston Highway) at Gate 5. This job fair will feature over 70 local employers who are offering jobs paying $17 per hour and more. Press Release * Employers scheduled to attend with booth assignments * Inside table layout * Outside table layout * Jobs Available

Carolina Cyber Center
The Center for Cybersecurity Education and Leadership at Montreat College provides guidance and oversight to our academic program, to the distribution of cyber defense information, and to collaborative efforts in cybersecurity with an emphasis on combining ethics, leadership, and liberal arts skills with technical proficiency. Montreat College is designated a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education by the National Security Agency (NSA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Montreat Center for Cybersecurity Education and Leadership: https://www.montreat.edu/academics/undergraduate/cybersecurity/
Details on our upcoming cohort can be found here.

Panel on Pursuing Careers in Healthcare
Derrick Edwards with the Mountain Area Workforce Development Board leads this panel discussion on pursuing careers in Healthcare. We would like to thank those HR representatives with Mission Health, Givens Estates and Range Urgent Care who participated in this event which took place during the virtual WNC Career Expo held April 14-16.

NCWorks Commission Spotlight on Local Innovations: Experienced Workforce Initiative (Mountain Area Workforce Development Board)
The Experienced Workforce Initiative (EWI) was developed in 2017 by a working group of community partners to reach out to adults 50 and above in Western North Carolina, and particularly in the Asheville metro area. EWI aims to support and promote the engagement of adults aged 50 and above in both the volunteer and workforce continuum, from volunteer work to stipend-based training, part-time and full-time employment, and entrepreneurship.

MAWDB Press Release – 2020 Recognition Event
Mountain Area Workforce Development Board recognizes outstanding employers, adult, youth and workforce staff at 2020 Virtual Recognition Event on December 1.