Little attended a national forum on economic development led by President Bush in Texas Tuesday.
“Everyone was optimistic about the economy,” Little told The Pilot Thursday. “The economy is turning around.”
The White House invited about 270 to participate in the forum at Baylor University in Waco. The forum brought together government policy makers, corporate executives, small-business owners, economists, small investors, union representatives, educators and others from around the country.
Little was invited in his capacity as chairman of the Sandhills Community College Board of Trustees and as president of the national Association of Community College Trustees. This was the first time the nation’s community colleges have been represented at a key presidential conference, Little said.
“Community colleges have a tremendous role to play in training and retraining workers for the new jobs that are being created as the economy continues to improve,” Little said. “We are already doing innovative things that are showing results.
“This was a tremendous experience and honor for me and a credit to Sandhills Community College and community colleges around the country to be invited.”
Little served on the panel on education and workforce preparedness, which included U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Page and Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, the chief executive officers of Home Depot, Cisco, Hewlett Packard and State Farm, union representatives, school superintendents, principals, teachers, college presidents and students.
“There was a lot of talk about where to put federal dollars in education and workforce preparedness,” Little told The Pilot Thursday. “We talked about the need to strengthen math and science curriculums and technology. We need to raise those to new levels. We need to raise the bar.”
In the area of training and retraining workers for business and industry, Little said, community colleges are already on the front line. He said that training will become even more crucial as the economy improves and more jobs are created.
“The economy is beginning to turn and new jobs are being created,” Little said. “The high tech industry, information technology, will need 300,000 to 500,000 new workers in the next year. We don’t have enough trained workers. The community colleges are geared up and are ready to train those workers.
“We need to retrain workers who have lost their jobs. Again, community colleges are in the forefront on that. We talked about how to restructure federal training programs and how community colleges can interface with them. New programs will provide more federal funding for community colleges to train these people.”
Little also had the opportunity to tell about how Sandhills Community College guarantees its graduates. If an employer is not satisfied with the training an SCC graduates receives, the employer can send the graduate back for more training at no charge.
“That is what business and industry wants,” Little said. “They want accountability.”
Little said the Bush administration wants to provide more funding for education and workforce training programs that are proven and have proven results.
Little said Sandhills Community College also stands to benefit from increased federal funding to strengthen math and science curriculums.
“We are already doing a lot of dual enrollment with the high schools,” Little said. “High school students are taking college classes that offer tougher, more challenging curriculums.”
Little said one of the biggest problems affecting the national economy has been the lack of trade agreements.
“We now have those in place, which will strengthen our exports and our overall economy and create more jobs,” Little said. “We need to have a trained workforce in place for these jobs.”
The economy and the stock market have been hammered by the recent corporate scandals, such as Enron, WorldCom and others, which have shaken the confidence of investors, Little said. He feels like the Bush administration is taking steps to combat the problems in corporate America.
Bush was very firm about his position on corporate responsibility, Little said, telling the audience, “If your break the law, you will go to jail.”
In addition to advocating community colleges, Little didn’t let the opportunity pass in rubbing elbows with corporate chief executive officers. He promoted Moore County to several of them, including the CEO of Home Depot.
“It was a very worthwhile experience,” Little said. “I had the chance to do a lot of networking. In all of my discussions, people spoke favorably about community colleges and the role they are playing in the economic recovery. This is an indication that community colleges have arrived. We are making a difference.”
