AAC
FEATURE CENTER Continued From Page 29 <<<
Left: Arkansas State University System President Dr. Chuck Welch speaks. Right: Gov. Asa Hutchinson speaks to event at- tendees in the Benton Events Center.
Left: Arkansas State Rep. Lanny Fite chats with Saline County Judge Jeff Arey. Right: Saline County Economic Development Corporation Chairman Shane Broadway expresses his excitement about the future of the center.
support of an innovative four-year institution, Arkansas State University institution and Tree Rivers College.”
Career and Technical Center Background Te idea to build a career and tech- nical school in Saline County started with a simple question. “We were asking ourselves this question: ‘What does Saline County need to be doing in order to retain and grow existing businesses and recruit new business and industry in Saline County,” Judge Arey said. Tis question prompted an eco- nomic development study led by a
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committee of local business repre- sentatives and representatives from the Detroit-based consulting firm Stantec. Te study revealed that the county was lacking in workforce de- velopment, in particular the enhance- ment of the technical curriculum at the high school level. Tis revelation led to another study
regarding high school technical train- ing in which over a 10-12-month period between 2015 and 2018, more than 180 businesses in Saline County and Central Arkansas were inter- viewed that revealed strengths and weaknesses in the county’s career and technical education opportunities.
“Te big issue that we found was that our high school students did not have access to the programs of study that were needed by our business and industry in order to grow,” Arey said. “If we truly want to support local in- dustry and have the ability to recruit new industry, then we need to fix the skills gap that is a real thing here in Saline County.” More than half of Saline County’s
workforce finds jobs outside the county. Arey and local leaders agreed that a career and technical education center could help keep that workforce in the county.
Te school will offer 10 curriculum COUNTY LINES, SPRING 2020
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