Sagging economy = big opportunity
Posted on Tuesday, October 14, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/News/66773/
ROGERS — The annual Arkansas Association of Two Year Colleges Conference serves as the Super Bowl of idea exchanges for the representatives of the state’s 22 such institutions. While it’s easy to assume a sputtering national economy would make for a somber gathering this time around, the mood has been anything but somber.
On Sunday and Monday, the first two days of the three-day AATYC Conference at the John Q. Hammons Center, it has become apparent that opportunity abounds.
“ It’s not a good economy right now and we do hear a lot of the negatives, but it’s a very exciting time for two-year colleges, as I believe we are better positioned now than ever before, ” said Dr. Edward Franklin, AATYC executive director. “ Businesses are looking to us now. The governor is looking to us. And we’re responding. ”
When the economy takes a slide, statistics show — and have held true over the past several months — that more people go back to school. And while the economy is, no doubt, in a slide, Franklin was quick to point out that the very state of the economy has brought on a plethora of new opportunities in the areas of transportation, logistics, medical fields and sustainable energy.
When the conference opened Sunday, “ opportunity ” was a prominent word being tossed around. It continued to serve as the buzz word Monday, as the nearly 800 community college and technical college representatives in attendance began sharing ideas, trials and visions.
“ Look at the opportunity with wind-based energy, with two such companies moving operations into the Little Rock area, ” Franklin said. “ Advanced manufacturing is an area of tremendous growth in eastern Arkansas, as those jobs are replacing agricultural jobs there. Green-based economy, particularly in northwest Arkansas, has just exploded. That’s where we’re evolving. That’s where — despite all the negative press on the economy — there are some unbelievable opportunities for growth. ”
Employees equipped to step into those fields are needed now.
“ Speed to market has become so important, ” said Becky Paneitz, president of Northwest Arkansas Community College. “ If we don’t respond to that, then we’re missing the boat. ”
Responding to that call is something NWACC has received considerable praise for in recent years, the latest being the speedy evolution of its graphic-design program. With Wal-Mart — situated in NWACC’s service territory — turning sustainable-packaging design into a priority, it is no longer good enough to have a general background in graphic design.
Package design these days requires forward-thinking techniques and development in order to eliminate waste. Wal-Mart set the bar, and plenty of other retailers and businesses across the country are following suit. The thousands of suppliers that work for Wal-Mart and other retailers are changing, and in many cases reinventing, their philosophies in order to become more sustainable.
“ Six months ago, sustainability wasn’t even a part of our graphic-design program, ” Paneitz said. “ But now, it’s going to be a big part of the new facility we just broke ground on last month. These kinds of skills are needed now. We heard from Wal-Mart, and we’re working with several vendors to develop a curriculum that’s going to prepare our students. This wasn’t even on the radar six months ago, but by the end of January, we’ll have everything in place. ”
AATYC has initiated a partnership with the University of Arkansas campuses in Fayetteville and Little Rock to begin preparing students for careers in nanotechnology, Franklin said. Jobs are opening in aerospace and continue to be in demand in nursing in Arkansas and many parts of the United States. Hewlett Packard’s arrival in Conway figures to be a source of opportunity, and Franklin said two-year colleges are adequately positioned to help deliver the skilled employees to fill the demand.
“ The evolution taking place right now at the country’s institutions of higher education is incredible, ” said keynote speaker Kay McClenney, director of the Community College Survey of Student Engagement being conducted at the University of Texas at Austin. “ The work community colleges do has such an impact on the health of the communities and entire areas they serve. ”