Gov. Stein’s Council on Workforce and Apprenticeships discusses goals and career development

The governor’s Council on Workforce and Apprenticeships held its third meeting virtually on May 22.

The council was formed by Gov. Josh Stein in March to identify workforce needs and amplify strategies that help North Carolinians access the education and training needed for high-wage, high-demand, and high-growth careers. 

Established as an advisory body within the NCWorks Commission, the council is co-chaired by N.C. Department of Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley; Sen. Eddie Settle, R-Alexander; and N.C. Community College System President Dr. Jeff Cox. Other council members include leaders from business, education, labor, and state agencies. Administrative support is provided by the Department of Commerce and the North Carolina Business Committee for Education (NCBCE). 

Stein kicked off the council’s third meeting by thanking council members for their participation, noting that their work is helping the state expand economic opportunity to North Carolinians.

“The people of North Carolina need good jobs with good wages so that they can support their families,” Stein said. “That is fundamental to the promise of our state, which is to expand economic opportunity to every North Carolinian, and your work here brings us closer to that vision.”

Stein went on to say that all council members share the goals of making North Carolina the best state in the nation for business and the best state for workers. Both goals depend on developing a strong workforce, he said.

“There are many different ingredients for workforce investment,” he said. “It could be apprenticeships, labor market alignment, or credential or degree attainment, but each of these are just tools for achieving the true goal.”

For Stein, that true goal is opportunities for North Carolinians to support their families and a workforce that enables businesses in the state to grow and succeed.

In his opening remarks, Settle said the governor’s executive order clearly outlined the council’s tasks.

By June 15, 2025, the council will recommend “strategic, quantifiable goals that will be most meaningful and holistically grow and prepare North Carolina’s workforce development efforts the next four years,” Settle said.

The goals will address several topic areas, including credential and degree attainment, labor market alignment, apprenticeships, work-based learning, sector-based strategies in emerging areas, and state government employment. 

By Dec. 15, 2025, the council will identify strategies to attain each of the recommended goals. All goals are on a four-year timeline and annual progress reports will be submitted each December starting in 2026. Stein also tasked the council with advancing identified goals and strategies while in their respective roles. 

According to a press release from the governor’s office, the council will also consider opportunities to support “people in rural communities, those who have been justice-involved, people with disabilities, and veterans and their families.”

Highlights from previous meetings

During the council’s inaugural meeting, the council discussed existing goals throughout the state across the six topic areas mentioned above. A presentation highlighted current goals, goal owners, and baseline data if available.

Cox said the council would establish up to a dozen goals that are “meaningful, moveable, and measurable,” a structure that is similar to the state’s educational attainment goal. The council will focus on overarching goals that multiple agencies will support through various, aligned strategies. The goals would also include baseline data, source of measurement, and goal owner and partners.

The council also discussed council feedback on goals and reviewed a summary of survey responses.

The first meeting also included a labor market update, where council members learned that North Carolina’s unemployment rate is below the national average, at 3.7%. And while the prime-age labor force participation in North Carolina (82.7%) is higher than it was in 2019, overall participation has declined. Since January 2020, the state has added 412,000 jobs.

The council’s second meeting was a continuation from the previous session to “refine and align existing and new workforce development goals” before the June 15 deadline.

Thirteen draft goals were under consideration. Council members worked to consolidate and cut down the list to create actionable goals. Action items for members included reviewing and submitting feedback on draft goals in order to finalize goal language and metrics for the third meeting.

Review of goals and more discussion

Council members continued to refine proposed goals during their third meeting. Lilley led the discussion, where members viewed each of the proposed goals and reviewed council feedback. Council feedback included an overall response, items needing to be clarified, and discussion points. 

Council survey feedback indicated that there was strong interest in exploring goals regarding labor force participation and wages, but that those conversations would need more time than is available before the June 15 deadline. Lilley said the report will note that the council plans to continue discussing these topics and a recommendation may be made to add additional goals related to labor force participation and wages in the Dec. 15 report. 

Each proposed goal presented during the third meeting resulted in additional discussion and feedback, including whether several of the proposed goals were actually strategies instead of goals, if the goal was feasible, and whether the council needed more data before finalizing the goal. 

Due to the amount of discussion surrounding the first four goals, Lilley requested to postpone the vote on the proposed goals in order to give staff more time to reflect on the council’s feedback.

Settle agreed and suggested the possibility of sending a survey before the council reconvenes in June. 

Career development plans and CTE updates

The council also heard a high-level overview regarding the Career Development Plan (CDP).

The CDP is in response to SL 2023-134, SECTION 7.13.(a), state law that states “middle and high school students enrolled in a local school administrative unit shall complete a career development plan.”

The CDP document, shared by Trey Michael from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI), provides guidance for the State Board of Education, local boards of education, charter schools, students, and parents. The document also highlights minimum requirements of the CDP, features to consider when selecting an electronic application platform, and implementation FAQs.

The 2024-25 academic school year was the first year the CDP was implemented.

Jamie Vaughn from NC Department of Commerce followed Michael, sharing information about NCcareers.org’s CDP platform. The platform is of no cost to schools and nearly 60% of school districts currently use NCcareers for their CDP platform, according to Vaughn.

Vaughn said that since NCcareers is owned by the state, it can provide additional data that may help drive policy.

Some of that data includes occupational interests, higher education plans, and higher education majors. Additionally, NCcareers recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with DPI, allowing them to utilize regional data that could lead to a better understanding of the workforce pipeline and educational offerings.

DPI’s Misty Wolfe also provided an update on Career and Technical Education (CTE) enrollments across North Carolina.

Data shows there were 972,205 CTE course enrollments for the 2023-24 academic school year. That figure reflects both high school CTE and Career and College Promise (CCP) CTE course enrollments, and therefore represents a duplicated count.

CTE participant data reached 550,918 last school year, up nearly 3,000 from the previous year.

The council’s next meeting is scheduled for June 12 in Raleigh.