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Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and Kannapolis work toward sustainable future

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John M Belk Endowment Chair and Co-Founder MC Belk Pilon with President Carol Spalding, Kannapolis Mayor Darrell Hinnant, and other area leaders.

Rowan-Cabarrus Community College (RCCC) has campuses in Salisbury, Kannapolis, and Concord. The college serves 20,000 students annually across 33 degree programs and 138 certificates. The vision of RCCC is to provide an education which will lead to “sustainable futures” for the college’s students and the community. This emphasis on sustainability grew out of the history of the communities they serve.

Kannapolis, for example, was a “company town” for decades with generations of families working for the Cannon Mills textile company from 1888 until July 30, 2003 when the roaring mills shut down. This move eliminated over 4,000 jobs in Kannapolis alone on a single day, which placed Kannapolis in the history books as one of the largest single-day layoffs.

This moment in time contributed to the college’s R3 Career Services program, which is focused on adults in career transition and offers a range of services including resume clinics, career specialists who can help adults consider their potential pathways, and more. This program has been shaped by the college’s experience of meeting the needs of the community after Cannon Mills shuttered Pillowtex.

On a recent visit to RCCC, a panel of students walked us through their own experience of trying to find their career path at the college.

After the panel, we toured the RCCC Health Sciences building which is located on the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis.

More highlights of our trip are displayed in tweets below.