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North Carolina Workforce Development Leaders Selected for National Talent Pipeline Academy

The NC Chamber Foundation is thrilled to announce that workforce development leaders in the North Carolina counties of Gaston and Johnston will attend the upcoming virtual Talent Pipeline Management Academy (TPM Academy Cohort XVII) presented by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Vincent Ginski, director of strategic initiatives at Gaston Business Association, and Joy Callahan, associate vice president of workforce development and advanced technologies at Johnston Community College, have been selected to represent North Carolina in this prominent program for workforce experts from across the country. As TPM Academy participants, Callahan and Ginski will develop demand-driven, employer-led talent supply solutions to produce a competitive, diverse, and world-class workforce in their regions.

The NC Chamber Foundation, a strong supporter of TPM, will provide tuition scholarships for Callahan and Ginski. They will team up with other TPM advisors in their areas after graduating from the six-month program which starts on May 12, 2021. In addition to Callahan and Ginski, the NC Chamber Foundation sponsored five North Carolinians who attended the U.S. Chamber Foundation’s first virtual TPM Academy (Cohort XVI). After graduating next month, these TPM facilitators will join the 16 TPM practitioners who participated in the NC Chamber Foundation’s North Carolina TPM Academy in 2019.

“Every job creator and every employer in North Carolina recognizes the urgency for aligning education and training systems with business needs. Strategic initiatives such as the TPM Academy are essential for securing a skilled talent pipeline, empowering North Carolinians with rewarding careers, and attracting companies to invest in our great state,” said NC Chamber Foundation President Kelly Fuller.

The graduates of the first NC TPM Academy are local leaders from chambers of commerce, workforce and economic development boards, business, and education who are now establishing employer-led collaboratives to improve talent pipelines in sectors that include manufacturing, health care, construction, life sciences, and software development. Guided by the TPM Academy alumni, these groups of employers examine data, identify their most in-demand positions, come to an agreement on the skills and hiring requirements necessary for those positions, and analyze where the top performers in these roles came from in the past.

Congratulations to the TPM Academy Cohort XVI graduates (May 2021):

  • Debbie Cromwell | Asheville, NC – Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College
  • Andrew Davila | Charlotte, NC – Charlotte Works
  • Margaret Roberton | Sanford, NC – Central Carolina Community College
  • Erin Easton | Wilmington, NC – Cape Fear Workforce Development Board
  • Brandi Bragg | Greenville, NC – NENC Career Pathways