Chancellor Philip L. Dubois delivered the keynote address at the Cabarrus Chamber State of the Region meeting held in Concord Tuesday.
In this presentation, Dubois talked about how Cabarrus County’s and UNC Charlotte’s future are linked and that both have bright outlooks.
“Highly educated and well-trained college graduates, along with applied research, will continue to power economic development in Cabarrus County,” stated Dubois. “Initiatives like EPIC, data analytics and advanced manufacturing will continue to grow jobs and investments here… The only real gains (in jobs) during the still struggling recovery are those filled by workers with at least some post-secondary education.” He added there is an urgent need to find ways to train workers for the more skilled jobs of the future, and UNC Charlotte is responding.
Dubois also stressed significant connections between the University and Cabarrus County – of all the college students from the county pursuing an education at a UNC system institution, 43 percent attend UNC Charlotte.
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Chancellor Dubois with alumnus Ryan McDaniels, vice president of economic development for Cabarrus Regional Chamber. |
Currently, the University enrolls 1,659 students from Cabarrus County, which includes 190 freshmen, 164 transfers (more than half from Rowan-Cabarrus Community College) and 284 graduate students. Roughly 6,300 of the University’s 60,000 alums in the region live in Cabarrus County, and more than 700 employees live in the county – that would make UNC Charlotte the ninth largest employer if the campus was located in Cabarrus.
The chancellor also discussed educational and health care partnerships between the University and Cabarrus County schools and human services facilities and agencies. An alumni reception at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, which featured head football coach Brad Lambert and Mesbah Uddin, director of the motorsports engineering program, concluded the day.
As part of the day-long outreach initiative, the chancellor also met with business and industry partners and civic and governmental leaders. This focused visit is part of a series of stops to the 12 counties that comprise the greater Charlotte region in an effort to strengthen relationships within the communities UNC Charlotte serves.