Leaders focus on workforce issues
By Elizabeth Billips lizbillips@yahoo.com

Burke County High School principal Wayne Hickman, left, talks shop with Ric Lichtenberg, owner of Samsons Manufacturing. Staff - Elizabeth Billips

Burke County's industry and education leaders agree.

If they work together, they can produce a stronger labor workforce.

Last Thursday, the two groups had a meeting of the minds at the Burke County Chamber of Commerce's monthly Existing Industry Committee meeting.

"We've got to make sure schools and businesses get back together so we can have open communication about what we need from each other," A&W Oil Company vice president and Development Authority board member Chip Barefield said to a group of nearly 40. "I feel like we've kind of drifted apart."

Chamber director Ashley Roberts says the distance has inadvertently grown over the past few years, mostly due to leadership changeovers in both sectors.

"We felt like it was important to bring the two sectors together again and to begin building rela- tionships and creating some dialogue on how we can all work together to put out the best workforce possible," she said after the meeting.

To begin that dialogue, all seven school principals talked to local leaders about programs producing big results.

They gave glimpses into new technology, after-school magnet programs, vocational education, character building and leadership training, just to name a few.

"We're collectively working in the right direction," Blakeney Elementary School principal Rocky Sams said, explaining that what happens in Waynesboro Primary's Pre-K program eventually filters up to his school, and so on.

Among the system's newest programs is a state of the art construction lab where instructor Jeff Johnson teaches high school students cornerstone construction skills through hands-on carpentry, masonry, electrical and plumbing projects.

"Teachers are the ones who are driving these programs," Burke County High School principal Wayne Hickman pointed out.

Roberts said the meeting was the first step toward what she hopes will become a close relationship between the people who educate Burke County students and the people who may one day employ them.

"We don't expect to solve all our problems today," she said. "This is just a start."

Barefield agrees. After the meeting, he said he was impressed by each school's efforts to challenge its highest achievers while reaching out those who are struggling.

"They're addressing both ends of the spectrum, and I like that," he remarked

Barefield said he hopes the meeting will spark more opportunities for interaction between businesses, industries and schools.

"It doesn't matter what format we choose ... we just need to keep it going."