Ahead of the anniversary of Helene, Good Jobs WNC expands funding to invest in the workforce of the future
Ahead of the second anniversary of Hurricane Helene, a national summit, local investments, and $3.3 million in new philanthropic commitments to Good Jobs Western North Carolina have been announced, according to a press release issued by America Achieves.
Good Jobs WNC is a locally led, regionally coordinated, and nationally connected coalition across 23 counties first announced in April 2026. The coalition brings together 11 community colleges, employers, foundations, and partners around a shared goal of connecting 1,200 residents to good jobs over the next three years in high-demand sectors including health care, manufacturing, and the skilled trades, serving as a prototype for what’s possible regionally, statewide, and beyond.
This week, Gov. Josh Stein and the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC) unveiled the Western North Carolina Economic Recovery Plan, and Good Jobs WNC is part of the plan, according to this press release.
“Together, we can build an economy that’s stronger and more diversified than the one the storm hit – because that is what a full recovery requires,” Stein said in the release.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, presidents of community colleges in the region came together early and often, fueling a conversation about what comes next for the region and how to move beyond rebuilding to shaping the economy of the future.
Those presidents have seen firsthand how globalization, automation, and digitalization have shaped and reshaped WNC’s economy for decades.
Their vision? For every resident in WNC to have a pathway to a good job.
Read more about Good Jobs WNC
A national summit
The Good Jobs Western North Carolina Summit is being held this week, bringing together hundreds of employers, education and workforce leaders, policymakers, local funders, and 11 national foundations to learn more about the region’s ongoing challenges and opportunities — and the role good jobs are playing in recovery.
The summit is visiting four community colleges, Canton, and the WNC Bridge Foundation. It is cohosted by the John M. Belk Endowment, America Achieves, AMY Wellness Foundation, Dogwood Health Trust, The Leon Levine Foundation, and WNC Bridge Foundation, according to the press release.
Investing in our community colleges
The Good Jobs Framework — developed by America Achieves, a national nonprofit — guides the coalition’s work to expand education, training, and employment access for low-income residents of western N.C.
The framework is a blueprint for how institutions, regions, and states can reliably connect residents to good jobs and help employers access the talent they need.
According to the press release, the goal is twofold: prepare and place more residents into good jobs in western N.C., and then use that experience and those lessons learned to build evidence, tools, and recommendations that will improve education and workforce policy at the state and national levels.
The Good Jobs WNC Fund provides grants to support scaleable, high-impact workforce solutions. America Achieves first launched the concept of these funds in summer 2025. The funds provide a model for directing private and philanthropic capital to scale high-quality, employer-aligned training programs connecting people to good jobs.
Early support for the Good Jobs WNC Fund came from North Carolina philanthropy, including the John M. Belk Endowment and The Leon Levine Foundation. Additional support then came from the N.C. Community Colleges Foundation, SECU Foundation, AMY Wellness Foundation, WNC Bridge Foundation, C.D. Spangler Foundation, Cannon Foundation, Dogwood Health Trust, and Pisgah Health Foundation.
With $20,000 grants to support capacity building, four workshops were held between April and June 2026 with all 11 colleges, moving them from the shared framework to plans for good jobs grounded in labor market data and hiring partners.
Colleges used a regional labor market analysis from Strada Education Foundation and the Good Jobs Western North Carolina Data Hub, powered by Julius Education and codeveloped with America Achieves. The hub is an interactive tool you can explore by college.
At the national summit, according to the press release, $3.2 million in grants were also announced for all 11 community colleges to implement employer-validated programs with awards of $200,000 to $300,000 per college.
These grants will support:
Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College | Expanded electrical, plumbing, and HVAC pathways
Blue Ridge Community College | Engineering and advanced manufacturing pathways, including new introductory academies
Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute | Expanded nursing capacity
Haywood Community College | Expanded commercial driver training, including a daytime option
Isothermal Community College | Short-term certificates in HVAC, construction trades, and electrical systems
Mayland Community College | Expanded registered nursing education
McDowell Technical Community College | M3 Manufacturing Momentum, connecting manufacturing training with further education and guaranteed interviews with participating employers
Southwestern Community College | Two programs, including a 14-week HVAC certificate with workplace learning and an evening practical nursing track
Tri-County Community College | A new practical nursing program developed with regional healthcare employers
Western Piedmont Community College | Strengthened mechatronics, machining, and welding pathways, including opportunities for apprenticeships and internships
Wilkes Community College | Paid Work & Learn opportunities in advanced manufacturing, alongside career exploration and training for current workers across manufacturing, health care and skilled trades
Here is more information about each investment.
The resulting portfolio involves 48 employer partners. America Achieves is providing technical assistance to the community colleges as they operationalize the grants in partnership with the John M. Belk Endowment and regional funder leaders.
“The education we provide must reflect the skills and expectations of today’s employers, and the best way to ensure that alignment is to design programs with employers at the table from the very beginning,” said Dr. Mark Poarch, president of Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute. “Together, we are creating stronger pathways to Good Jobs for more residents while helping employers build the skilled workforce they need to thrive.”
National philanthropy invests in western NC
$3.3 million in new philanthropic commitments to Good Jobs WNC also were announced, according to the press release.
The New York-based Rockefeller Foundation is committing $1 million — the first national philanthropy to invest in the coalition.
“Good Jobs Western North Carolina is a model for how to help people get and keep good jobs at a time of profound transformation in the labor market,” said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, president of The Rockefeller Foundation. “This effort stood out to us because it brings together employers, educators, and the public sector to train people for the work employers need and help them get hired. The Rockefeller Foundation is proud to be the first national philanthropy to join this initiative as part of our $100 million Big Bet to connect Americans to the dignity of work in a changing economy.”
Rockefeller’s investment in western N.C. will be matched by $2 million from the John M. Belk Endowment. The North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation also recently announced it is joining the Good Jobs WNC funding coalition, adding an in-state partner with deep roots in apprenticeship and work-based learning.
MC Belk Pilon, president and board chair of the John M. Belk Endowment, and Jon Schnur, CEO of America Achieves, made the announcements at the national summit.
“This work began with listening to the people who know western North Carolina best: its community college leaders, employers, and residents,” said Pilon. “Their leadership has brought us to this point.”
“We are thrilled that national philanthropy will build on local communities to help make sure that this region not only delivers strong local programs but develops lessons learned and tools to take lasting pathways to economic mobility to a much larger scale,” she said.
‘Preparing people for good jobs’
“This initiative is preparing people for good jobs, supporting businesses’ searches for skilled workers, and strengthening the region’s economic recovery for years to come,” said Stein, according to the press release. He said the expanded funding “will provide western North Carolinians new opportunities to build careers in the communities they call home.”
The community colleges’ leadership in the coalition is intended to build evidence for a statewide strategy to align colleges, employers, the K-12 education, workforce boards, and government around measurable goals. Lessons from the regional work will help identify changes in policy, funding, and institutional practices needed to connect more people to good jobs.
“Western North Carolina’s colleges and employers are working together to build scalable models to help people get good or promising jobs that employers need to fill,” said Schnur, the CEO of America Achieves. “Philanthropy is intended here to finance the transition, not permanently subsidize the system.”
In 2027 and 2028, the Good Jobs WNC Fund will support additional programming across the 11 colleges as they launch more pathways to good jobs.
This expansion coincides with North Carolina’s implementation of Propel NC, a new funding formula that prioritizes high-wage, high-demand sectors and establishes funding parity between workforce continuing education and curriculum programs.
This alignment, according to the press release, will provide a stronger foundation for sustaining the work of the coalition. It is anticipated that enrollment-based state funding will help support ongoing instruction as successive cohorts enroll.
The coalition plans to share tools, labor-market findings, playbooks, and policy recommendations gained from implementation so other communities, regions, and states can adapt the approach.
Additional photos
Editor’s note: The John M. Belk Endowment and Dogwood Health Trust support the work of EdNC.