RALEIGH — "Resilience for changing times" is the theme of the 2002 Workforce Development Partnership Conference. The individuals and business presented the Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Workforce Development have shown their ability to meet the challenges in their lives, or the lives of their employees, with the help of a community college.

The awards were presented at the 2002 Workforce Development Partnership Conference, held October 22^nd through the 25^th at the Sheraton at Four Seasons/Joseph S. Koury Convention Center in Greensboro. The conference focuses on building partnerships and providing better service to employers and job seekers across the state.

A highlight of the conference is traditionally the presentation of the Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Workforce Development. Honorees were recognized at the Governor’s Award Banquet on Thursday, October 24. The Governor’s Awards honor individuals for their outstanding accomplishments and a business for its contribution in helping the state achieve its workforce development goals.

The award recipients this year graphically illustrate the tremendous role community colleges play in changing lives and making dreams come true. The employer uses the local community college to instill a resilient spirit in its employees. The individual honorees have demonstrated their resilient nature by using a community college to turn their lives around.

The Outstanding Employer honoree is a business that works closely with Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College to focus on workforce development and education initiatives within the region.

The Great Smokies Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort – Governor’s Award for Outstanding Workforce Development Employer. With 272 rooms and 28 time-share villas, this is a full-service resort hotel that includes a 70-par golf course. The hotel has 220 employees, 25% Spanish-speaking. Sunspree has a commitment to workforce and educational initiatives within the region. Programs include Spanish/English workplace language and literacy programs, provided by A-B Tech, career skills training on-the-job and at area schools, partnerships with area public schools and colleges to train prospective employees and special- needs groups, and manager/employee participation to teach business classes at area schools.

All of the individual honorees have used or plan to use their local community college to overcome personal hurdles or as a major educational resource.

Sarah Louise Hill, Farmville – Governor’s Award for Excellence in Workforce Development, Outstanding Adult Participant. A single parent from a broken home, Hill dropped out of high school after the tenth grade but returned to earn her GED and a Certified Nursing Assistant I certification from Pitt Community College. With the help of JobLink and the Workforce Investment Act program, Hill received training that led her to achieve a Basic Office System Skills certification, also from Pitt CC. She is now employed as a Health Services Manager, is a dedicated volunteer in her local community and has also served as served as President of her PTA.

Kelli A. Mills, Asheboro – Governor’s Award for Excellence in Workforce Development, Outstanding Adult Participant. A ninth-grade dropout whose alcoholic parents led her to be placed in foster homes, Mills took advantage of the Job Training Partnership Act program to earn her GED and then received an Associate Nursing Degree from Randolph Community College. She is now a registered nurse in Randolph County and has purchased her first home, where she lives with her husband and three children.

Dustin Patrick Perdue, Greensboro – Governor’s Award for Excellence in Workforce Development, Outstanding Youth Participant. Eighteen-year-old Dustin Perdue was born blind because of a genetic disorder. He nevertheless received his high-school diploma and was the first student in the Guilford County Schools Network Administration class at the Weaver Education Center to receive both the Microsoft Certified Professional and Certified NetWare Administrator certification in the same school year. He plans to enroll in the Entertainment Technology Program at Guilford Technical Community College, with an emphasis on sound engineering. He eventually plans to become a computer systems engineer.

April Wood, Southern Pines – Governor’s Award for Excellence in Workforce Development, Outstanding Youth Participant. After a difficult childhood, a broken home and foster care, April enrolled in the Workforce Investment Act program at Pinecrest High School and received her diploma on May 24. She participated in a summer work experience program through Aberdeen ESC and Moore County JobLink. The married mother of one is now enrolled at Sandhills Community College and continues to work full-time. She plans a career in either social work or as a teacher so she can "help other young people who are trying to grow up with little family support."

The North Carolina Community College System is the primary source of world-class workforce training and education resources.

-NCCCS-

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