Rowan-Cabarrus Community College (RCCC) will play an important role in the development and growth of the North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC) in Kannapolis. RCCC will help campus employers meet their workforce demands and give local residents direct access to the NCRC by providing instructional and workforce development programs and by offering career development services.

RCCC will offer curriculum, workforce development and continuing education programs in a 60,000-squarefoot facility on the NCRC. The building is scheduled to open in late 2008 to early 2009, with the focus of providing instructional space for hands-on biotechnology training in a simulated research and development setting. The facility will include:

RCCC's research campus facility will serve as the focal point of all RCCC biotechnology program and course offerings. In 2007, RCCC began offering courses in a new degree program in biotechnology. The associate degree program will prepare students for careers as biotech research assistants, laboratory technicians, quality control specialists and biotech product sales representatives. RCCC is offering the biotechnology program in collaboration with Gaston College and Forsyth Technical Community College.

RCCC is working to develop other biotechnology programs to be based at its NCRC facility. These include an associate degree program in agriculture biotechnology and a bioprocessing option in its industrial engineering technology degree program.

RCCC also offers programs to prepare students for careers in biomanufacturing. Students in RCCC’s associate degree program in industrial engineering technology can choose a biotechnology option that prepares them for specialized biomanufacturing and facilities management positions.

Students also can complete the BioWork course offered through RCCC’s Continuing Education division. The 140-hour BioWork course gives students a broad overview of the biotechnology industry and prepares them for entry-level biomanufacturing jobs.

Employers with operations on the NCRC will look to RCCC, the two-county region’s public institution of higher learning, to provide the programs and training needed to meet their workforce demands. It’s estimated the NCRC will produce 5,000 research positions and perhaps 30,000 infrastructure and support positions. These will range from associate-degree lab technicians, who directly support research endeavors, to a diverse array of skilled and technical positions.

For example, biotechnology research and manufacturing facilities require highly specialized heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. RCCC’s HVAC program will train and prepare technicians to meet the demands of biotech research and industrial environments. The same is true with computer systems networking and high-tech electronic equipment. RCCC will provide customized training programs to meet NCRC employers’ needs.

To give local residents an additional link to the research campus, RCCC, with generous support from Castle & Cooke Inc., has opened an adult career development center adjacent to the NCRC in Kannapolis. The college established the R3 Center to assist displaced workers in Cabarrus and Rowan counties who are unemployed or under-employed.

The center’s mission is built on three Rs – a refocus on individual skills and interests, retraining and further education based on those skills and interests, and partnering with other workforce development agencies to secure career-oriented re-employment. The R3 Center helps displaced workers assess and profile their skills, aptitudes, training and academic credentials, and future career interests, and develop a plan for career growth.

The R3 Center is partnering with other workforce development agencies, including the Centralina Workforce Development Board, JobLink Career Centers of Cabarrus and Rowan counties, N.C. Employment Security Commission and other area community colleges. The center will help local residents learn about job opportunities on the research campus and refer job seekers to the appropriate workforce development agency for re-training.