2026-10-12 - Board of County Commissioners Briefing

10:59Good afternoon and welcome to our

11:01briefing uh for and and today's briefing

11:05is for Thursday, October 15th board

11:08meeting, which I will remind you will be

11:10at 6:00 p. p.m. on Thursday. Uh Vice

11:14Chair Wilson will be joining us remotely

11:17today. I'll turn the briefing over to

11:19you, Madame Man Manager.

11:21>> Thank you, Madam Chair, and good

11:22afternoon, commissioners, staff, and

11:24guests. Agenda item number one is a

11:26public hearing on the zoning petition of

11:28Trackco Investments from HBL to HBS.

11:31This is case F1673.

11:33Chris Murphy, our planning director,

11:35will brief this item.

11:52Good afternoon. Uh I won't prolong this

11:55too much. Um as the manager did say,

11:57this is a resoning to HBS to add the use

12:02for uh Kennel indoor. This is located uh

12:05this is shown on the Ford 2045 growth

12:08management area plan map where the

12:10subject property is request uh is it's

12:13right along Highway 150 at the Davidson

12:16County line within GMA3 suburban

12:18neighborhoods.

12:20Uh this is the subject property

12:21highlighted in yellow again right there

12:23along uh the Davidson County line where

12:27150 uh enters uh for Scythe County from

12:29Davidson County.

12:31subject property outlined in yellow on

12:33the countywide aerial imagery. Uh this

12:37piece of property is part of a former

12:40church that has been in commercial use

12:43uh for most of the last 50 years. There

12:46is a daycare directly to the north. Some

12:49apartments that wrap around uh that

12:54daycare that was approved at the same

12:56time. This was part of one common plan

12:58of development. And there's some other

13:00commercial development that has been

13:01approved by the commissioners to the

13:02north. And then if you go down into

13:05Davidson County, there's some other

13:06commercial property in McDonald's, a

13:08sheets um and a drugstore in that

13:11general vicinity.

13:13Uh the um South Suburban area plan

13:16update, which was approved by the

13:18commissioners back in the mid20s,

13:21does recommend the per uh the parcel for

13:23commercial development.

13:26Just a few images. Uh the image, this is

13:29an image of the subject property. The

13:30building on the left is actually the

13:32building in question. This piece of

13:34property is actually bisected by the

13:36county line. Uh the building on the left

13:39is the former church sanctuary uh that

13:42the proposed indoor kennel will be in.

13:45And the building to the right is the

13:48former um

13:51like family life center or um fellowship

13:55hall associated with that church. Again,

13:58that's in Davidson County.

14:01This is looking across 150. There's a

14:03manufactured home development as well as

14:05a gas station um across 150 Peters Creek

14:08Parkway from the subject property. This

14:11is looking south along Peters Creek

14:13Parkway. subject property to the left.

14:15This is looking to the north. You see

14:17the zoning sign and then uh in the

14:20background of that image, you see where

14:21the daycare is located.

14:26This is the site plan. It's essentially

14:27the existing building with a little

14:30better defined parking than what is

14:32currently out there. And then the indoor

14:35there is an outdoor run associated with

14:36the indoor kennel. Uh and that is where

14:39the dogs can uh go outside to play.

14:42supervised uh and um do other things

14:46that animals do.

14:50The request is consistent with the

14:51partial specific commercial land use

14:53recommendation of the south suburban

14:54area plan update. The request is also

14:56consistent with the recommendation of

14:58Ford 2045 to prioritize denser higher

15:01higher intensity development along

15:03growth corridors and within activity

15:04centers. And this request would allow

15:07for the adaptive reuse of an under

15:09underutilized building along a major

15:11thoroughare. This was heard by the

15:13planning board at their August 13th

15:14meeting. There were no speakers in

15:16opposition and following the public

15:18hearing, the planning board did

15:19recommend unanimously to approve this to

15:22the commissioners. And with that, I'm

15:24glad to answer any questions.

15:25>> Questions? Commissioner Bessie.

15:28>> Thank you, ma'am. Uh I do have questions

15:30about the notice. Um I had when I was on

15:34the city council quite a few years ago.

15:37This case was um the notice to nearby

15:42property owners was to the titular owner

15:46of a set of condos and the people who

15:48actually lived in the condos never heard

15:51about the zoning until it was already

15:53approved and they started complaining of

15:54barking noises. Um, have has there been

15:57any double check of the notice to the

16:00people living in the apartments so that

16:03we would know if they have uh concerns?

16:05>> That's not an ordinance requirement. So,

16:07no, I mean, I can't speak to whether or

16:09not the property owner would have

16:11notified those folks, but

16:13>> Well, you're you're supposed to do a

16:14neighborhood meeting. Is there a record

16:16or neighborhood meeting?

16:18>> Um, they you don't have to do a

16:21neighborhood meeting. You have to do

16:22neighborhood outreach. Uh there should

16:24be something in the packet that

16:26describes what they did. They probably

16:27sent a letter to the adjoining property

16:29owners would be my guess.

16:35>> Other questions?

16:38>> Thank you.

16:42>> Yeah, I'm I'm not comfortable with what

16:45we've heard so far about this. I'll have

16:47more questions on Thursday night. Uh,

16:50and you know, otherwise it looks good to

16:53me, but I just want to make sure that

16:54the actual f folks living next door have

16:58had an opportunity to object if they

17:00wanted to do that.

17:02>> Thank you.

17:02>> Thank you.

17:04>> Agenda item number two is a resolution

17:06declaring the Forcy County Board of

17:07Commissioners intent to close a portion

17:09of Hopedale Drive and calling a date for

17:11public hearing on the matter. Matthew

17:13Hamby from Matt Forcy is here to brief

17:16this item.

17:21Good afternoon.

17:22>> Good afternoon.

17:38So, the petitioners to have requested

17:40were um Mr. Missiles Rutled on Hopewell

17:44Drive and Mr. Clemens of Hopeedale Drive

17:46in Royal Hall. The area to be closed is

17:49approximately 60 ft wide by 170 ft long.

17:53It was originally created in Platbook

17:5623, page 14, and it was approved March

17:5923rd of 1966.

18:02This is the the plat that shows the uh

18:06that created this rideway.

18:08And here highlighted in orange, you can

18:10see the area that's being requested to

18:12be closed. Um

18:17the joining property owners are 7900 of

18:20Hedale Drive and 650 Honeywell Drive.

18:28This closing of this rideway would have

18:30no effect on anyone's address. Um here

18:34you can see this is a Google Street View

18:36of the area being requested to be

18:38closed.

18:40I can try to answer any questions you

18:42may have regarding this. Okay,

18:44questions.

18:45>> Does this interfere with anybody's

18:48>> uh access?

18:50>> The property to the south has road

18:52frontage on Simmons Road. Um it would

18:56not affect them having access from

18:58Simmons Road.

19:01>> I do want to ask our planning director,

19:03Chris Murphy, to come up because

19:05planning has looked at this item and

19:07wants to and needs to discuss kind of

19:09what this could potentially mean for

19:11future planning.

19:31Good afternoon again. Uh yeah, this was

19:33uh something that came to our office as

19:35far as what our opinion on this would

19:37be. And obviously this is a decision

19:39that is within the purview of u the

19:42county commissioners. But as someone who

19:44can make a recommendation

19:47or give our thoughts, our only thought

19:50was this is an existing public access.

19:53Uh, as Matthew alluded to, this piece of

19:56property to the south is a fairly large

19:58piece of property and does have a lot of

19:59frontage on Simmons, but uh, you know,

20:02the UDO does recommend for

20:04interconnectivity of existing streets

20:06when it's practical. And there's

20:08[clears throat] not a topographic reason

20:10why this could not be done. With that

20:12being said, you know, as Matthew did

20:14allude to, this um,

20:18project was approved in the 1960s. there

20:20has never been a connection that's gone

20:22through there. So, you know, we just

20:24wanted to point out that it would

20:26preclude interconnectivity, but again,

20:28it would not landlock a property, would

20:30not deny anyone access. We did just want

20:33to point out from a pure planning

20:34perspective and a service delivery

20:36perspective, not only for trash, but you

20:39know, deliveries and those kind of

20:40things. Having interconnected streets is

20:42certainly preferable, but is not a

20:45there's not anything that would preclude

20:46you from closing this.

20:48Uh when these things come up like this

20:52uh

20:54are pro all property owners that is

20:58adjacent to a uh rightway

21:02are they notified by mail?

21:05>> Uh no. There's a a sign that's posted in

21:07the ground. Somebody from general

21:09services goes out and puts a sign about

21:10the public hearing that's going to be

21:12held and then it's posted in the

21:14courthouse and in the newspaper.

21:18that there's going to be a public

21:19hearing to close that rideway.

21:26Well, at the present time,

21:29uh is it um a dedicated right away?

21:40This is the section that's proposed to

21:42be closed. If you can see my arrow, it

21:45is this section that is a dedicated

21:48rideway. It currently stubs into this

21:50large probably 50 acre piece of property

21:53that is currently undeveloped.

21:55But again, that undeveloped piece of

21:57property has extensive road frontage

21:59along Simmons. This portion is

22:02dedicated, but there's nothing dedicated

22:03on the larger piece. So, it's just this

22:06little area that they're asking to

22:08close.

22:12And you say this um subdivision to the

22:14north was developed about 50 years ago.

22:19>> Yes, sir. It was um originally recorded

22:2160 in 1966. Okay.

22:23>> And what's the current zoning of the

22:25property to the south?

22:28>> I'd have to look that up. I'm not

22:29exactly sure.

22:31>> Hold on a second. I'll pull up with you.

22:32I haven't pulled up on something else.

22:35The reason I ask you, it occurs to me

22:36that there um you know there's a run on

22:39on undeveloped property these days. uh

22:42and if the owner or developer looking to

22:45purchase the the parcel of the south was

22:48interested in say you know uh adding

22:51more density having that little spur

22:54would um eliminate a complication of uh

22:58of saying yes to that request because

23:02you wouldn't have the likelihood of

23:05additional heavy traffic from a new

23:07development going out through an

23:09existing road that was not designed to

23:11absorb orbit.

23:13>> It is currently zoned the same thing as

23:15the existing subdivision is zoned RS20.

23:19>> RS20. Yeah. So, somebody might well come

23:21in in one, you know, an RS9 or

23:23something. Um, and I mean, I'm just

23:27looking at the perspective from

23:30the uh

23:33looking at it from the perspective of

23:34wanting to

23:37eliminate future potential problems of

23:39that. And I think this, you know, I'm

23:42sensitive to the question that the

23:44commissioner Lynville raised also

23:45regarding the lack of notice, but um

23:49it's something that I would be inclined

23:50to favor to protect the subdivision to

23:53the north from a you know a sudden

23:56influx of additional traffic that their

23:58their roads weren't designed to handle.

24:01Anyway,

24:02>> further questions?

24:05Thank you.

24:06>> Thank you.

24:07Agenda item number three is approval of

24:09minutes for the meeting of October 1st.

24:12Madame clerk, have those gone out?

24:14>> Yes, they went out on Friday. Great.

24:16Thank you. Agenda item number four is an

24:18amendment to the fiscal year 27 budget

24:20ordinance to appropriate fund balance

24:22resulting from fiscal year 26 sales tax

24:24revenue for Winston Salem for Scythe

24:25County Schools. Kyle Wolf, our budget

24:27director, will brief this item.

24:29>> Good afternoon, commissioners. As you

24:31know, the county began levying the

24:33article 46 quarter cent sales tax on

24:35July 1st, 2020 after the citizens of the

24:38county approved a referendum in March of

24:402020. The board of commissioners has

24:42passed 100% of that revenue ever since

24:45then uh to the Winston S County School

24:47System to increase the local teacher

24:49supplement with the goal of raising the

24:51supplement to be competitive uh with the

24:53top five amounts of the state for fiscal

24:57year 26 that just uh closed in uh on

25:01June 30th. The county budgeted 19,741,68

25:0619,741,000741,68

25:11from this revenue source and included

25:14that amount in its appropriation to the

25:15school system last year. Because of the

25:18delay in how sales tax revenue is

25:20collected and then distributed to

25:21counties, the final revenue for sales

25:22taxes was not received just until uh in

25:26September. And while the county missed

25:28the overall budget for our sales tax

25:30revenue, uh actual revenue from article

25:3246 came in higher than budgeted

25:35amounting to $21,21,665.86.

25:40So this item appropriates 1,280,597.86

25:46to the school system with the

25:48expectation remaining that it use these

25:49funds solely for teacher supplements.

25:52I'm happy to answer any questions you

25:53might have.

25:54>> Questions?

25:57Thank you. Agenda item number five is an

25:59amendment to the fiscical year 27 budget

26:01ordinance to appropriate funds from Blue

26:03Cross of Blue Shield of North Carolina.

26:05Sharita Sutton, our assistant public

26:06health director, will brief this item.

26:09>> Good afternoon, commissioners. The

26:12Department of Public Health requests the

26:13board approval to amend the to

26:16appropriate a grant award of $4,000 from

26:18Blue Cross and Blue Shield. These funds

26:21will support the department's crib for

26:22kids safe sleep program which provides

26:25critical safe sleep education and

26:27resources for families in Foresight

26:29County. The $4,000 grant will be used to

26:32purchase approximately 50 pack and

26:34plays. Any questions?

26:37>> Questions?

26:39Thank you.

26:40>> Thank you. Agenda item number six is a

26:42resolution awarding and authorizing

26:44execution of an agreement for the

26:45purchase and installation of replacement

26:47911 communications consoles at the foray

26:50county emergency services backup center

26:51to Ergoflex systems inc to business at

26:54Zbix Systems. Jamie for our 911 chief

26:58will brief this item.

26:59>> Madame manager, madam chair,

27:01commissioners, um it's it's come time

27:04that we need to replace the furniture

27:05our backup center located at 3000

27:07Aviation Drive. Um it was duly

27:10advertised on city county state person

27:12website directly forwarded to potential

27:14biders. We received two bids. Those bids

27:16were opened on August the 26th

27:19um with Zybecks and Russ Basset both

27:21producing a bid. Uh current consoles at

27:24that location were installed in 2012.

27:26They were actually due to be replaced in

27:282022.

27:29This is fully funded by the 911 board

27:32and the eligibility should be a part of

27:33your packet.

27:34>> Okay. Questions?

27:37Thank you. Thank you.

27:39>> Agenda item number seven is our report.

27:41It's the partners health management

27:42quarterly report and otherwise we have

27:45our discussion item which is for scythe

27:47tax quarterly report by Dr. Spriggs.

27:51>> Good afternoon chair wisenh

27:53commissioners. I also have Mr. Jackie

27:56Copeland here because I'm sure you might

27:57have some questions regarding the via

28:00partners merger. But what you have in

28:02front of you is the partners quarter 3

28:04and quarter 4. of the second half of

28:06last fiscal year uh reports and they

28:09provide the overview of service activity

28:12utilization and trends that affected

28:14foresight county during that reporting

28:15period

28:17and happy to answer any questions or

28:19refer to Mr. Copeland

28:22>> questions.

28:24Thank you.

28:27>> All right, Dr. Spriggs, you're up. Good

28:29to see you.

28:31you.

28:33Good morning everyone. I'm hoping that I

28:36can work the technology today

28:40or I'm sorry, it's afternoon, isn't it?

28:42Good afternoon everyone. Um I'm happy to

28:45be here again to provide an update on

28:47the things happening at your community

28:49college and I might just as a reminder

28:51remind everyone a top 10 college in

28:53America. We're excited. We have two more

28:55years to tout that honor or another year

28:58to tout that honor. and you'll hear it

28:59from me every time I speak with you, I'm

29:01sure, between now and then. I want to

29:03start by just sharing our uh vision

29:06statement. Our north star at the top of

29:08this of this slide, dream, learn, and

29:11thrive. Everything that you hear me

29:13report on today will tie back to our

29:16strategic direction and our strategic

29:18plan that we are calling vision 2030

29:21future ready by design based on our um

29:25opportunity over the past two years to

29:27work with our internal stakeholders as

29:29well as our external partners around for

29:32Stokes counties to build a plan that we

29:35believe does move our college to the

29:37next level in terms of how we support

29:40workforce and econ economic workforce

29:42development and economic mobility within

29:44the communities and the region. We have

29:46trailblazer annual priorities each year

29:49that are basically the main priorities,

29:52strategic priorities that all of our

29:54divisions and departments will be

29:56focusing their execution work on for the

29:58year. This year, our priorities are all

30:02aligned with four the four um items that

30:05you see here. prehealth pathways,

30:07accelerating bachelor's degree

30:09attainment, expanding and strengthening

30:12high wage high demand programs and

30:16onboarding for our students. And all of

30:19those then will relate to the wildly

30:21important goals that our departments

30:23will use will um have built rather to

30:26help us move towards our strategic

30:28impact outcomes. So as we go through, I

30:30will share with you how everything that

30:32I'm talking about ties back to that

30:34vision 2030. I want to share some good

30:36news right off the gate to start with

30:38and that is that our enrollment looks

30:40very good. We are above 10,000 students.

30:43We have not been this high since the

30:45great recession. We don't want another

30:47recession. So, we're happy that we're

30:48able to get our enrollment back up so

30:50high without having an economic

30:53downturn. As of this morning, 10,362

30:57students are enrolled in our curriculum

30:59programs at the college. I will remind

31:01you that we do a lot more than just our

31:02curriculum degree programs. And

31:05altogether, we serve about 22,000

31:07students throughout the academic year,

31:09but this is a very high enrollment for

31:11those students that are looking for

31:13two-year degree programs to either go

31:15straight to work or to transfer to a

31:17university for their bachelors. We had

31:19significant enrollment last year. Our

31:21spring enrollment was up 11%. So, we had

31:24a wonderful budget for this year because

31:26we had good numbers. We are serving um

31:30more students than we have in over 13

31:32years.

31:34We are also have the distinct honor of

31:37being the first college in North

31:39Carolina to receive federal approval for

31:42federal workforce pel. This is a big

31:44deal. It's only for six programs at this

31:47point, but those six programs educate a

31:50lot of students each year. And we were

31:53the only college in the country at the

31:55time to have six programs to make it

31:57through the process of getting federally

31:59approved. I think a couple of other

32:01states, Texas and one and Illinois I

32:03believe now have colleges that have that

32:05many programs. But this was a really big

32:07deal. Our team had been working on it

32:10since about for about 18 months since

32:12the bill was originally passed by

32:14Congress that we will start awarding

32:16this money in spring of 2027 and on

32:19October 15th we will be submitting two

32:21more programs for federal approval as

32:23well. You can see the programs that we

32:26are now offering or will be offering in

32:28the spring. And our students will be

32:29able to access PEL funding to pay for

32:32emergency medical technician, fire

32:35academy students, our welding students,

32:37electrical line worker, as well as

32:40nursing assistance one and two. All

32:42opportunities for career pathways that

32:44lead to family sustaining wages, which

32:47ties back to those pathways that you saw

32:49in our vision 2030 at the beginning. We

32:52also were uh excited to be one of the 12

32:55community colleges in North Carolina

32:57that was chosen um to offer Careers

33:01Electric. And Careers Electric is what

33:03it says at the top of the slide, a paid

33:06on-ramp to apprenticeships. There were

33:0925,000 North Carolinians prepared for

33:12electrical careers within a decade. I'm

33:15sorry. 25,000 is what we need to have

33:17prepared in this state um over the next

33:21decade. 12 community colleges offered

33:23thesemies over the summer. We were one

33:25of those. They were basically offered

33:27$2,000 stipens for high school students

33:30to be able to participate. Our academy

33:33was a paid seven-week program. it

33:36counted as one year of what a typical

33:40four-year electrical degree would be uh

33:43or an electrical apprenticeship would

33:44be. Students who took this as high

33:47school students can now continue in the

33:50program with the tuition waved. So, it's

33:52an opportunity for them to have gotten a

33:54whole um credit for a large part of the

33:57program and move right into the next

33:59phase. We had 27 students in total that

34:02were able to complete the academy. Some

34:04of the students went back to high school

34:05to finish high school. But we did have

34:07three employers that were with us on

34:09this journey and as a part of this who

34:11have hired the other graduates. So it

34:13was a huge success and we're excited

34:15about opportunities to expand this

34:16program but other programs like it in

34:18the future. We have found that if we can

34:21get students opportunities to earn while

34:23they learn, they one learn better but

34:26also it's a great opportunity for them

34:28to continue to earn money and not have

34:29to stop that to to go to school. This is

34:32just a picture. I wanted to share that

34:34we graduated our 73rd class of line

34:37workers. I was very thankful for all of

34:39our line workers this weekend because I

34:41was without power for 10 hours, but it

34:43was only 10 hours and it could have been

34:44a lot longer had we not been able to

34:46participate over the past 10 years at

34:50helping to make sure that we have line

34:52workers. This was a fairly large class

34:54of 19 graduates that were ready to work.

34:57Just a month ago, they graduated. We

34:59also were uh uh pleased to be able to

35:02welcome folks from the state including

35:04North Carolina Commerce Secretary Lee

35:06Lily to our apprenticeship for America

35:10and apprenticeship signing.

35:11Apprenticeship for America is a new

35:14program that we are entering into. Um

35:16you all know and have many of you have

35:18attended our apprenticeship signings in

35:20the past. This was one of our largest

35:22apprenticeship signings ever. And we

35:24also had about 13 students who had

35:27received their federal and state journey

35:29worker opportunity.

35:32We've also been busy trying to make sure

35:34that in addition to the public dollars

35:35that we receive from the state and the

35:37county to help support the work of the

35:38college that we are taking advantage of

35:41opportunities outside of public funding

35:42whenever possible or outside of county

35:45and state public funding and tapping

35:46into money that is available from the

35:48federal government as well as private

35:50entities to help us support our work.

35:53These are three grants that we have just

35:54recently received, $916,000

35:57over three years from the National

35:59Science Foundation. This one is going to

36:01be a lot of fun and maybe a little

36:03frightening at the same time. This is a

36:05robotics program and we are actually

36:07working to build robots and to help

36:09students understand how to program

36:12robotics. It's a going to be an AI

36:14technician degree and it's going to be a

36:16curriculum that we are building

36:18alongside employers to help us make sure

36:20that the students are learning what they

36:22will need in the workforce. So, we're

36:24excited about that. My future NC, and

36:26you'll hear more about this in just a

36:28moment, has awarded us um $100,000 for

36:31the first year of a two-year opportunity

36:34to serve as the fiscal agent and the

36:36convening partner for an effort that we

36:39are calling attainment for Scythe. And

36:41that is all about helping us meet our

36:43attainment goal as a state. And again,

36:45I'll talk more about that in just a

36:46moment. and the Appalachin Regional

36:48Commission awarded us $300,000 to help

36:52us fund and build youth apprenticeships

36:54and our apprenticeship initiative in

36:56general. So, we're very excited about

36:58that opportunity. Our learning commons,

37:01I have good news finally about learning

37:03commons. We have moved forward to uh

37:06state construction and are awaiting

37:07their approval. We should have it within

37:09the next 50 days or so. We submitted

37:11about 10 days ago. we were able to um

37:15work well first of all thank you because

37:17you all allowed us to take our 5.3

37:20million in unspent bond dollars and move

37:22it to this project and we were able to

37:25move about 11 million 11.1 million from

37:27our skiff appropriation from the state

37:30to help us meet our budget we will be

37:32able to build 48,000 square feet of

37:35classrooms study rooms library and

37:36student support areas and as I said we

37:39have now submitted our budget and final

37:42design to state construction. We

37:44anticipate that we we would be able to

37:46break ground in the early spring. I'll

37:48keep you posted with exact dates as we

37:50get those approvals back from state

37:52construction, but we're excited that we

37:53are moving forward. This will still have

37:56some space in the building that will be

37:58not not be completed. Um we are hoping

38:02that we will be able to secure the

38:04additional money for that space in the

38:06long session with our general assembly.

38:08We've got a request in with our state

38:10officials and are hoping that that will

38:12be how we are able to fund that final

38:15piece, but we have enough of the space

38:17completed in this new project to be able

38:19to move forward with state construction.

38:22And then the forcythe or attainment

38:24forcy that I just mentioned to you, I'm

38:27really excited about this. This is some

38:29data that my future NC has prepares for

38:32every county in North Carolina. For us

38:35and for Scythe County, there are 51% of

38:37our adults aged 25 to 44 who earn a

38:41family sustaining wage. 62%

38:45is the number of the that same age group

38:48in the peer counties around us. So we

38:51have a little bit of ways to go to um be

38:54aligned with our peer counties in the

38:56number of adults that are earning family

38:59sustaining wages. And we believe that

39:01the community college is a huge part of

39:03helping move more of our adults into

39:06those family sustaining wage careers by

39:09giving them the skills and credentials

39:10they need to secure those jobs. There

39:13are 70 we need 70,763

39:16credentials and degrees in order for us

39:20to meet the goal for for county's 2030

39:23attainment goal. As you know, the

39:25state's goal is two million highquality

39:27degrees or credentials by 2030. And our

39:31number from four years from now is

39:3370,763.

39:36So, we are working diligently to make

39:38sure that we are able to respond to that

39:41co that goal. But the real problem is

39:44that we need to do this because there

39:45are so many workforce gaps. There are so

39:47many of our companies in this county and

39:50in the greater Pedmont Triad region that

39:52are trying to find workers to fill

39:55critical jobs and they are not able to

39:57do that. And so that's the the other

39:59underlying reason why for Scythe Tech

40:01was so excited to have this opportunity

40:04to lead this effort. Tomorrow at our

40:07Dwit Roads conference center on our

40:09campus, we will be um there is a

40:11thriving together is holding a policy

40:13forum and we are using that opportunity

40:16to officially launch attainment NC or

40:19tamement NC for scythe and we are

40:22serving as the fiscal agent. As I

40:23mentioned, we have a grant from my

40:25future NC to uh cover project management

40:28and other aspects of this project. We

40:31have leaders from across the business

40:33community and the public sector as well

40:35to help us uh steer this work and to

40:39help us really align what the colleges

40:41not just for Scythe Tech but Winston

40:43Salem State is also uh part of this

40:46effort alongside us. All of us together

40:49can make sure that we are not only

40:51providing the credentials but making

40:52sure that the credentials are the ones

40:54that our communities and our region

40:55need. So, you'll be hearing much more

40:57about this as we work through the uh

40:59early days of getting started and as we

41:01make our way to 2030. Those are the

41:04updates I have for you today, but I'm

41:05always happy to answer questions about

41:07this or anything else you may have.

41:13>> So, I uh always love to see you, Dr.

41:16Spriggs, when you come because you bring

41:17us such good news and you've got such

41:19good numbers and growth. So, I just want

41:21to celebrate you and your team. I see

41:23your chief of staff, Dr. Paula Dibli is

41:25with us today as well. So, thank you.

41:28You're a gym in our community and you do

41:30add such value. We appreciate you.

41:32>> I appreciate it. It's a wonderful

41:33community to be a part of. So, thank

41:35you,

41:37>> Commissioner Woodbury.

41:38>> Yes. I just want to um of course um

41:42definitely supplement um what has

41:45already been said by way of your

41:47leadership and your staff and being um a

41:50true asset in our community and also

41:53just uplift the event. I was recently at

41:56the U women in manufacturing

41:59um forum um workshops that you all did

42:03on campus last week. I think you all had

42:05um Sheay Mustafa from the Reynolds um

42:09corporation to um be the keynote speaker

42:11and I learned a whole lot um and can

42:14really see the value that women play in

42:16our community and across our state as

42:18manufacturer leaders. So, thank you.

42:20>> Thank you so much for attending. That

42:22was a great event and Shay did a

42:23fantastic job. I never want to have to

42:25follow her in a speech.

42:29[clears throat]

42:29>> Good afternoon, Dr.

42:30>> Afternoon.

42:31>> Good to see you. um had a couple

42:33questions about your presentation. Um uh

42:36the page looking ahead to tamement NC

42:38for south county collaborative the 51%

42:41compared with 62% urban peer counties

42:43which are those counties in this case

42:45>> those are the counties that are I think

42:47let me ask my chief of staff if she

42:49knows right around us Paula correct

42:52>> oh okay

42:57>> that's why I bring her with me

42:58>> that and the reason I ask is you because

43:01unfortunately wake and

43:03>> mellinburgg still resource levels. We

43:05don't. But

43:05>> that's right.

43:06>> Um there was another another thing

43:09though that I wanted to ask about the

43:12Here we go. The workforce bill.

43:14>> Yes.

43:14>> Um [clears throat]

43:17the EMT

43:19>> Yes.

43:19>> program. Is that um 100% of costs or is

43:24it a percentage of cost?

43:25>> It depends on their It should cover the

43:27100% of the cost. Yes.

43:28>> And is it all grant? No loan involved.

43:31>> Correct. No loans. This is all money

43:33that does not have to be paid back and

43:34it's based on income.

43:36>> If you discover that's not 100% of

43:39costs, I'd be interested to know that

43:41because as you probably know um we and

43:45other urban uh you know counties always

43:48face difficulty in in recruiting EMTs

43:51for our um uh our emergency uh services

43:56because frankly there's so many more

43:58calls.

43:59>> Sure. in our area that that the pressure

44:01is higher and uh the pay's the same

44:04often as a as a smaller county. So,

44:07>> uh looking for ways to improve our

44:09recruitment if there were a gap that we

44:11could

44:12>> fill in on a basis of a come work for us

44:15for a year or two.

44:17>> Sure.

44:17>> Uh that the cost of these short-term

44:20programs, North Carolina supplements

44:23tuition very well. We have the lowest

44:25tuition. In fact, I can't remember the

44:26last time our tuition changed. it's been

44:2910 years or more um since we had an

44:31increase. So, it's very low for these

44:33short-term programs, but for someone

44:35who's out of work or struggling to to

44:38make bills, pay bills, it becomes a huge

44:40barrier. I believe that the workforce

44:43PEL amount, if they qualify based on

44:45income, it will cover that small cost.

44:47But I think that what we can do is make

44:49sure if there are ancillary costs

44:51associated, transportation and other

44:53things that we certainly keep an eye on

44:55how we can work together to figure out

44:56how to help with that recruitment. We've

44:58done that in the past. Worked a lot with

45:00the county manager and the team to try

45:02to help with recruitment as well.

45:04>> Thank you.

45:05>> Thank you,

45:07>> Dr. Spriggs. I always look forward to

45:09you coming because you always have such

45:11good news for us.

45:12>> So, I say thank you to you and your

45:14staff and your students. You give us a

45:17great deal to brag about.

45:18>> Thank you so much. They're the best. For

45:20sure.

45:22>> Before we adjourn, I know some of you

45:24are wondering about these pink balloons.

45:28Ashley, bless her heart. Now, she's a

45:30little older than 20. Um, but she is

45:33celebrating 20 years of working with

45:36Versail County. So, aren't we happy to

45:38have her? [applause]

45:44Thank you, Ashley. Um any any more

45:48statements? Okay, we're ajourned.