Economic Development and Higher Education Bonds

H. Martin Lancaster, President
North Carolina Community College System

To the Bladen County Committee of 100
Elizabethtown, NC
September 12, 2000

Thank you for that kind introduction. It’s an honor to be invited once again to speak in Bladen County, a county that has befriended and supported me in so many ways for over 15 years now.

I’ve been fortunate to have a number of opportunities in my career as a former Judge Advocate General, member of the General Assembly and U.S. Congress, and as a former Assistant Secretary of the Army. But of all my experiences, nothing has been as gratifying, rewarding, and I think as important as my involvement with the North Carolina Community College System. No institution in the State, in my opinion, has had as far reaching an impact on the prosperity of North Carolinians as the North Carolina Community College System.

Technically, I have only been an educator for three years now, but I have learned a thing or two about education during that time, so in that spirit I want to start by giving you a little one question exam. What I’m going to do is read a quote, and ask you to answer who you think said this. Here it is:

"You will hear some whisperings abroad saying that we have done enough, have moved well and far and rapidly, and so it is time now to slow down, rest, and catch our breath.

These whispers come from the fearful and those who have always opposed the accomplishments from which they now would rest. This cannot be and is not the spirit of North Carolina.

Much remains to be done, to provide better educational opportunities for the competition our children will surely face, to encourage broader economic development so everybody will have a better chance to make a better living. Now is the time to move forward. Now is no time to loaf along."

That’s the quote so here is the test. Who said this and when? Was it?

Governor Jim Hunt arguing in a speech for his educational agenda before the recent General Assembly; or was it
Erskine Bowles presenting the recommendations of the recent North Carolina Rural Prosperity Task Force last year to Governor Hunt and legislative leaders; or was it
Governor Terry Sanford in 1963 putting forth his agenda to the North Carolina General Assembly which had as its centerpiece the creation of the Community College System.

Well, you probably can tell now that this is a rhetorical prop and that the correct answer is Governor Terry Sanford in his State of the State address in 1963. And one of the things to take from this quote, which could easily have been said by a North Carolina leader today, almost 40 years later, is that difficult choices and challenges about investments in education and economic development have always been on the North Carolina landscape.

They were there when North Carolina decided to open the first public university in the nation more than 200 years ago. They were there when Charles Brantley Aycock championed universal public education at the turn of the twentieth century. They were there when Governor Luther Hodges started Research Triangle Park and the system of Industrial Education Centers that eventually developed into one of the nation's first system of community colleges which Terry Sanford and Dallas Herring championed. The challenges were there when Governor Jim Martin started the ball rolling on the Global Transpark, and the challenges were there when Governor Hunt challenged us to create the best public schools in America by the year 2010.

Thank goodness that these State leaders did not back down from the difficult choices of their time – that they did not decide to "slow down, rest, and catch their breath," for look at the prosperity that North Carolina faces today.

Did you know that in the past few years, North Carolina has been ranked:

The state with the number one business climate in the U.S.;
The number three state in the nation for business retention;
One of the 13 hottest high tech regions in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal;
The State with the third greatest number of jobs in plants owned by foreign companies;
The number five state in the nation for biotechnology growth;
The number four state in the nation for plastics industry locations;
Lead the nation in production of fiber optic cable, the ultimate infrastructure of the information highway;
Ranked in the top ten States in growth of both Gross State Product and average manufacturing wage.
And finally, a ranking I am most proud of, the North Carolina Community College System has been ranked the number one worker training program in the nation for the past two years.

Now has North Carolina developed into one of the hottest business locations in the nation by accident? I don’t think so. Rather it has been because of tough choices made by progressive leaders, and because of economic development initiatives and educational institutions such as North Carolina’s community colleges.

In today’s economy, where capital and technology are flowing across not only State but international borders, nothing is more important to the development of a region than the development of worker skills. And as some national observers have suggested, no State in the nation has as strong an infrastructure for lifelong learning and skill development than North Carolina, as a result of sustained investments in North Carolina’s community colleges.

Each year, one in eight North Carolina adults is enrolled in a community college program, almost ¾ are enrolled in non-degree granting program that are designed specifically to update their occupational and technical skills.

Over 300,000 thousand North Carolinians participate in one of 1500 occupational continuing education courses;
200 companies a year and 20,000 people receive free training for new jobs through the New and Expanding Industry Training program, including both Dupont Fluorocarbons and Danaher Controls most recently here in Bladen County. Of the companies supported through this program crucial to North Carolina’s economic growth, 68% are in rural counties and almost 60% are with existing companies that are expanding their workforce, not new industries.
Almost 60,000 people a year receive free training and counseling to start and operate a small business through our Small Business Centers.

These are just a few of the programs offered through North Carolina community colleges that make us the number one place to do business in America, and a pacesetter in economic prosperity.

But in the face of this overall good economic news for our State, leaders in both North Carolina government and industry clearly recognize that prosperity is not finding its way to all corners of North Carolina. It has been slow to find the mountain towns in the West, the coastal and sound communities of the Northeast, and the traditional farming communities of the Southeast such as Bladen County.

For that reason, the Governor recruited Erskine Bowles, former White House Chief of Staff and now an investment banker in Charlotte, to lead the North Carolina Rural Prosperity Task Force. I was pleased to participate in the initiative as a member of the Steering Committee and Chairman of the Human Resources Working Group. In accepting the role of chairman, Erskine Bowles had one requirement, that this not be a typical Government report that sits on the shelf, but that it actually have impact and results.

Here we are almost a year later, and many of the recommendations have been implemented:

First, it was recommended that North Carolina bring affordable internet connectivity to businesses and individuals in all corners of the State, and just few months ago, it was announced at an event with President Clinton in Columbus County that the leading providers in the State have committed to a plan that will make North Carolina a pioneer in rural Internet connectivity.

Second, based on a recommendation from the Rural Prosperity Task Force, the General Assembly along with leading North Carolina banks created a Rural Economic Opportunity Fund to invest in rural North Carolina businesses.

Next up, we hope and believe will be implementation of education and training opportunities for rural areas which will require actions by the next General Assembly.

Among the Task Force's recommendations were to:

fully-fund the school equity formula in low-wealth counties;
expand literacy opportunities in rural counties where over 30% of the population in 25 counties fail to have basic reading and computational skills;
to create a special fund to help rural community colleges quickly respond to plant closings;
to increase funding for curriculum and training courses deemed strategically important to regional industrial development goals; and
to expand the Focused Industrial Training (called FIT) program to enhance the training resources at rural community colleges.

We know that expansion of the FIT program to Bladen County has been of particular interest, and it is something that we are committed to work toward, hopefully with your support. Today, there are 18 community colleges in the State that do not have FIT Centers meaning that they do not have dedicated staff to assist existing companies with their customized training needs for current employees. As the Rural Prosperity Report pointed out, this lack of FIT staff infrastructure in the rural areas means that our training resources often do not adequately reach the companies in the rural areas of the state, like Bladen County, where they are most needed. For this reason, I expect that our State Board will endorse later this week a request that the Governor and the General Assembly expand the FIT program, which will help us bring a FIT Center to Bladen Community College.

With the implementation of the Rural Prosperity Task Force Recommendations, I think someday we will look back and realize that it was a milestone event not only in the development of our rural counties, but for all of North Carolina.

On November 7^th, you the citizens of our State will face what is an even more important milestone decision. On that day, you will have the opportunity to decide what I believe will be a critical decision for the future of North Carolina education and economic prosperity. Of course, I am referring to the bond referendum in which the citizens of our state will decide whether or not to provide $2.5 billion in construction, repair and renovation to North Carolina's universities for repair and renovation, dorms, classrooms, and science and technology labs, and $600 million to upgrade the facilities at community colleges including here at Bladen.

Specifically, if the bond referendum is approved, Bladen Community College will receive $4,321,603, of which over $3 million can be used for new construction to support future enrollment growth and new workforce training facilities. Importantly, for Bladen County and other similar counties in our state designated as low-wealth, there are no local matching requirements for this bond funding. That means "free money" for Bladen County. Since you don’t have to come up with any money, there will be no impact on local property taxes.

In my opinion, this is a defining moment for North Carolina that will determine whether our destination twenty years out is still defined by economic prosperity, or whether we take a step back in our long history of leadership in support of educational and economic opportunity. The new chancellor in Chapel Hill, who has spent some recent time studying North Carolina's educational history, says that this is the most important decision that North Carolina has faced since the Civil War.

Within the next 10 years, enrollment in our universities and community colleges is expected to grow by approximately 100,000 students. Already, even without the overwhelming growth we expect in the future, the lack of adequate facilities is closing the doors of educational opportunity in the faces of many North Carolinians. Some universities have already been forced to cap admissions due to lack of space. Community colleges are bursting at the seams, with long waiting lists for classes due to lack of space. The vote on November 7^th will determine whether or not we keep open the doors of educational opportunity and economic prosperity in our State.

Of course, like all the previous big decisions that have been made in our State, the bond referendum has costs. However, when you weigh the costs against the benefits, as you do as business people every day, this investment adds up to a good deal for North Carolina.

According to our State Treasurer, a legendary fiscal conservative, these investments will not raise State income taxes. These bonds will also provide tax relief to local governments that otherwise would have to assume full responsibility for community college facility investments without the bond money. And I repeat, for low wealth counties such as Bladen, local government will not have to provide any matching funds so there is no danger of your local taxes being increased.

Today more than ever, with the emphasis on workforce skills, our State's prosperity is tightly linked to our universities and community colleges. Companies want to expand and locate near outstanding community colleges and universities, to take advantage of a well-trained workforce. Data shows, and students of all ages have recognized, that economic progress in almost any field in the 21^st century is dependent upon additional education beyond high school.

For the first time, the key decision about the educational opportunities of our children, and the future of our State, rests here in the hands of people in Bladen County and the other 99 counties across the State, not in the hands of the Legislature. I hope first that you will vote on November 7^th. When you do go to the polls and make your individual decision about this important crossroads in our State's history, I hope you will keep the words from yesteryear I quoted earlier from yesteryear in mind, because they ring truer today here in Bladen County than they did in 1963. They are such great words that I want to close by quoting them again.

"You will hear some whisperings abroad saying that we have done enough, have moved well and far and rapidly, and so it is time now to slow down, rest, and catch our breath.

These whispers come from the fearful and those who have always opposed the accomplishments from which they now would rest. This cannot be and is not the spirit of North Carolina.

Much remains to be done, to provide better educational opportunities for the competition our children will surely face, to encourage broader economic development so everybody will have a better chance to make a better living. Now is the time to move forward. Now is no time to loaf along."

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