NC Chamber Foundation President Joins National Workforce Panel at Talent Forward Conference

Meredith Archie, president of the NC Chamber Foundation and senior vice president of external affairs at the NC Chamber, traveled to Washington, D.C. recently to speak at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Talent Forward conference. Meredith joined a panel of national workforce leaders and highlighted the NC Health Talent Alliance—an innovative partnership tackling North Carolina’s urgent health care workforce shortages.

A Demand-Driven, Employer-Led Workforce Model

The NC Chamber Foundation is building a best-in-class, employer-led workforce development model grounded in the U.S. Chamber Foundation’s Talent Pipeline Management® (TPM) framework. Starting with health care, the Foundation’s vision is to replicate the TPM approach in other critical industries like manufacturing and agriculture.

Through the NC Health Talent Alliance—a public-private partnership with the NC Center for the Workforce on Health—the Foundation is creating a statewide infrastructure to quantify regional talent needs, activate employer leadership, and track progress toward measurable goals. The 2024 data dashboard is now live at workforceforhealth.org/2024-hta-data.

Key Takeaways from the Data

• In-demand roles: RNs, LPNs, CNAs, and CMAs remain the most critical healthcare roles in short supply across North Carolina.

• Barriers to growth: Dropout rates, clinical site shortages, faculty gaps, and early burnout are among the top challenges to stabilizing the healthcare workforce.

• Early wins: Recent state efforts—such as NC Community Colleges Boost and high-school-to-nursing pathway expansions—have increased RN output by 8%, but larger breakthroughs are still necessary.

What’s Next

The Foundation and its partners are doubling down on solutions that:

• Unify siloed data systems

• Accurately project clinical faculty needs

• Leverage real-time metrics to guide policy and funding decisions

National Spotlight

The NC Health Talent Alliance’s model is gaining national recognition. Meredith Archie’s remarks at the Talent Forward conference highlighted how North Carolina is rethinking workforce development by putting employers at the center of the solution. Watch the panel discussion here.