North Carolina Community College System President Thomas Stith III made his first visit to Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute Thursday.
Stith was introduced to several CCC&TI projects aimed at meeting the needs of local employers and preparing local students for high-tech and high-paying jobs in growing industries. He also had the opportunity to talk with CCC&TI leadership, including members of the Board of Trustees, about statewide and local community college issues.
“Whether that’s a newly minted high school student, whether that’s someone that has to be retrained due to a displaced job situation, we have to be the first choice,” Stith said of the state’s community colleges. “There is no other agency, entity or higher ed institution that is more prepared and positioned to help with recovery and sustain growth moving into the future.”
Stith also touted the visit as an opportunity to see the issues and ideas that are talked about in Raleigh, such as collaboration with local schools and customized training.
“When you put your foot on campus, you actually see that in action … you see folks that have a bright future that started here,” Stith said. “These are the special times to see what we do to impact lives.”
Thomas Stith - North Carolina Community College System President Thomas Stith III speaks to Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute leadership during a meeting on campus Thursday.
Stith’s visit concluded with a tour of new facilities and projects that are currently under construction at CCC&TI. The first stop on the tour was the Biopharmaceutical Technology and BioWorks labs on the Caldwell Campus, both of which are currently under construction and will help with staffing in the growing pharmaceutical segment of the local economy.
The second stop was the new Electrical Lineworker facility on Roy E. Coffey Drive on the back side of campus in Hudson. The recently completed facility provides indoor training space, as well as capacity to expand the popular program.
The last stop on the tour was the Paul H. Broyhill Center for Advanced Technologies, located at the Transportation and Public Services center, just south of campus at the corner of Hickory Boulevard and Pine Mountain Road in Hudson. The facility houses the college’s Engineering, Machining and Mechatronics training programs, and was developed to help prepare the area’s workforce for advanced manufacturing jobs.
Taking the helm as the system’s 10th president on Jan. 11, Stith has extensive experience in economic development and government relations. Stith previously served as district director of the U.S. Small Business Administration, where he led the federal agency’s response to COVID-19 in North Carolina, resulting in more than $16 billion in support for small businesses in the state.
He was chief executive of several businesses and consulting firms, including the Michael Thomas Group in Durham and LJP Lab, a toxicology lab and health care consulting company in Kernersville.
He served as chief of staff to former Gov. Pat McCrory from 2013 to 2017 and was a three-term city council member in Durham from 1999 to 2007. During his time in the Governor’s Office, he led special initiatives on historically black colleges and universities and Hurricane Matthew recovery.
His higher education experience includes five years as economic development program director at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the Kenan-Flagler Business School, from 2008 to 2013. There he focused on improving Eastern North Carolina economies, securing grant funds and managing renewable energy projects.
Lineworker Facility - North Carolina Community College System President Thomas Stith III, center, tours the new Electrical Lineworker facility on Roy E. Coffey Drive in Hudson. CCC&TI Board of Trustees member Bill Stone, right, explains the features of the newly completed building, which includes an indoor pole yard for training students.
Thomas Stith and Mark Poarch - Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute President Dr. Mark Poarch, right, speaks to North Carolina Community College System President Thomas Stith III, during a tour of the Biopharmaceutical Technology lab space that’s under construction on the Caldwell Campus in Hudson.
Center for Advanced Technologies - Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute Vice President of Academic Randy Ledford, center, leads a tour of the machining area at the Paul H. Broyhill Center for Advanced Technologies in Hudson. Participating in the tour was North Carolina Community College System President Thomas Stith III, right, and CCC&TI President Dr. Mark Poarch.