AG Josh Stein Continues Community College Tours In Kannapolis

Earlier this week, Josh Stein toured Rowan Cabarrus Community College’s research campus in Kannapolis. During a meeting with RCCC President Carol Spalding and Vice President Craig Lamb, Stein learned more about the college’s programs in advanced technology fields and what they need to be “better equipped to educate the future and current workforce of the state and place those people into careers that provide for their families better.”

Stein also praised the college’s partnership with local employers and emphasized the need to further invest in the state’s community colleges “to make sure that the school is producing people with the skills that are needed to succeed in the workforce.”

This visit follows a tour of Catawba Valley Community College last month. On the campaign trail, Stein continues to emphasize the importance of community colleges and small businesses in shaping the workforce of tomorrow. As Governor, Stein will continue to prioritize investing in public education, workforce development, and job training so that every North Carolinians can have a rewarding career.

Rowan-Cabarrus Community College leadership provided gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein with ways for the state to assist them when he made a stop at the Kannapolis campus on Monday.

Stein, the current state attorney general, made a stop at RCCC’s Research Campus facility as part of a tour he is undertaking to visit community colleges throughout the state. Stein said that he is visiting the schools to better understand what the community colleges need to be better equipped to educate the future and current workforce of the state and place those people into careers that provide for their families better.

Currently, the school partners with outside companies such as Chewy, Eli Lilly and Amazon to put workers through training. RCCC Vice-President Craig Lamb explained one current program the school uses, where a company will pay for the certification of a student with the understanding that the same student will then work for the company for at least 90 days.

For his part, Stein dutifully took notes of all that was said and asked clarifying questions about all of the topics discussed by Spalding and Lamb. Stein also said that he would work to get an item back in the state’s budget that provided a waiver for potential students of the college. The budget item would have created a waiver for students that wished to take short-term, career-changing courses in order to work in high-need, high-wage jobs in the community.

After the tour, Stein said that he was impressed with the efforts RCCC has made to partner with local industries and fulfill the needs of those same industries.

“There are exciting things happening in terms of the connections that the community college has with local industry to make sure that the school is producing people with the skills that are needed to succeed in the workforce. There’s a really strong positive relationship between the private industry and the community college here,” said Stein.

After speaking with Stein, Lamb showed the attorney general around the college’s Advanced Technology Center, which was built in 2020. The center houses programs in the robotics, engineering and advanced technology fields.