Amid successes, NC commerce leaders hope to help job-seekers facing barriers to employment

North Carolina is seeking to protect its status as one of the best states to do business and grow its workforce by doing more for residents who have barriers to employment, state officials and business leaders said Thursday.

North Carolina Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders Department of Commerce called on state agencies, businesses, college administrators and legislators to either expand existing job-training or job-support programs — or to create new ones.

Her comments were part of an update on the state Commerce Department’s “First in Talent” plan to attract both businesses and job-seekers to the state.

Commerce department officials and representatives from state partnership groups have completed or started many of the plan’s goals, Baker Sanders said. She credited North Carolina’s talent pool and stock of “shovel-ready” development sites for the state’s ability to recruit big employers in recent years.

The state’s economy is strong; the unemployment rate was 3.3% in June. And in the both years since 2021, CNBC named North Carolina the top state for business in the nation.

Sanders and others on the panel of experts highlighted several areas where North Carolina could still improve, namely:

• Reducing barriers to employment for those who have disabilities, are transitioning out of the military, or were formerly incarcerated.
• Continuing to expand access to high-speed internet throughout the state.
• Improving infrastructure in rural communities.
• And improving access to child care throughout the state.

Sanders, appointed to her role in 2021 by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, also emphasized the importance of funding public education — a political touchpoint in the state. “We must vote for those who prioritize education,” she said.

Education funding is at the center of a long-running legal battle between state lawmakers and local advocacy groups. Hoke County Board of Education vs. State of North Carolina, commonly known as Leandro, has resulted in judicial findings that the state is not meeting its constitutional obligation to provide a “sound basic education” for all North Carolina children.

A remedial plan calls for at least $4.5 billion more in annual education spending by 2027. Republicans have balked at the plan and argue a court doesn’t have the authority to tell lawmakers how to write their budget.

The commerce department’s economic plan calls for “robust investments” in education, specifically the state’s pre-kindergarten program.

In a statement, North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore’s office credited Republicans in the state legislature for investing record amounts into the state’s workforce development and community college programs.

“While we are happy to review proposals from the Governor, legislators have addressed workforce needs across the state head-on and are not interested in increasing regulation on small businesses at the state or local level,” said Demi Dowdy, Moore’s communications director.

Sanders’ commerce plan includes action items for state legislators, some of which they’ve executed and some of which they haven’t. For example, state lawmakers raised the pay of state full-time state employees to $15 an hour. However, they have not raised the state’s minimum wage for all workers above $7.25 an hour.

“I am proud of what we have accomplished for North Carolina and the next generation of skilled workers who are prepared to meet the needs of the many businesses flocking to our state,” Moore said in a statement to WRAL.