GREENSBORO, N.C. — One group that traditionally doesn’t show up for elections is turning out for the 2020 presidential race.

Young voters are making themselves heard in early voting, and young volunteers are helping to drive the turnout.

Bill O’Neil talked to college students who have never voted before, but they are volunteering their time to get out the vote through the New Voter Project.

The non-partisan effort includes reaching out to young voters in a number of different ways, working the phones and reminding people to vote and how to make a plan to vote.

NC State University student Brigid Lindley says, “I just feel like it’s something that’s really important. We did not think about did not have that big of a turnout in 2016. We’ve really just been looking at trying to get as many kids out to vote as possible just because we feel like that’s so important this year.”

“There are people that quite literally don’t have the option whether they aren’t able to vote if they’re not old enough, or they aren’t a citizen, for whatever reason,” says Ellie McCutchen, who’s a student at both Early College of Forsyth and Forsyth Technical Community College. “I feel like the people that can be involved need to do their best to be involved because we have to speak for the people who can’t.”

When asked if these students have been surprised by anything in their efforts to get people involved, Lindley says, “It’s just been really incredible having a response from groups of people who you’d generally not expect to answer a phone call. We get people asking questions. I’ve had people that will text me a couple of days after I call them if they have any questions.”

McCutchen says she’s been worried about bothering people with calls. “This is necessary work I’m doing it with a purpose. It’s been really worthwhile when you have a good conversation about voting with someone who’s a complete stranger.”

<!–more->

This is the fourth article in a series on the transfer experiences of North Carolina’s students between community colleges and four-year institutions. Click here to read the rest of the series.

Forsyth Technical Community College expanded Bailey Artz’s expectations for what he was going to get out of a college education. And that changed his life, he said.

Artz will finish his Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree in diesel and heavy equipment this spring. He is going right back to Forsyth Tech this fall for a program where he’ll earn his associate degree in horticulture then transfer to North Carolina A&T State University to get a bachelor’s in agricultural education, which is designed to take two years at each school.

Artz is going to get a job using his diesel degree, he says, and work his way through his associate and bachelor degrees to supplement his Pell Grant and additional loans. The first degree Artz will earn will help him pay for the next two — a positive feedback loop when it comes to the value of education.

By the time he graduates, Artz will have been in school for six years, assuming all goes according to plan. Artz, a high-achieving student with support at school and at home, has a good chance of making it through.

Continue reading →

A group of community leaders gathered at Front Street Capital’s new headquarters located in Bailey South to discuss Covid-19 and the profound impact, not just on business but on higher education, nonprofits, the workforce and certainly on individual households.

Nearly eight years ago, Curtis Walker arrived in North Carolina with nothing but the clothes on his back and hope for brighter future. Moving from New York, he was ready to turn a new page and build a better life.

“I had a bus ticket, and I had the clothes on my back,” Walker said.

He got hired at Pizza Hut first, then moved to Advanced Auto, then onto Tyson Foods, and then Ashley Foods. Eventually, he found himself at Corning, where a talk with a mentor led him to consider a choice that transformed his life — going back to school.

Now, almost eight years after that bus ride from New York, Walker is the Student Government Association (SGA) president at Forsyth Technical Community College, part of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society, and ready to graduate with an associate degree in supply chain management.

The right fit

When deciding on schools, Walker knew he wanted to study supply chain management. He found Forsyth Tech and discovered their supply chain program. With a dream in mind and course catalog in hand, he packed up his bags and moved from Wilkesboro to the Triad.

At the time he started his classes, he had no idea where the opportunities at the college would take him — specifically the leadership development he would undergo. Walker credits many of the opportunities he’s had to the relationships he’s built with students, faculty, and staff.

During his first year at the school, he met president Janet Spriggs in an elevator. The conversation they had that day bloomed into a relationship, one that Walker is still learning from today.

Watching how Spriggs interacts with people and responds to the environment around her is a learning experience for Walker, he said. “Even though I’m not dealing with it, I’m learning from it,” he shared.

Continue reading →

Winston-Salem, N.C. – Forsyth Tech is proud to announce the appointment of Jacob Surratt, who has a doctorate in education, as the new Vice President of Student Academic Success/Chief Academic Officer beginning December 2, 2020.

Grants of up to $25,000 will go to Black and Latin-owned businesses within Forsyth County for the purposes of retaining and creating jobs, paying wages and salaries and more.

<!–more–>

A $1.3 million TRIO grant from the U.S. Department of Education will help provide support services at Forsyth Technical Community College for first-generation, low-income or students with disability backgrounds.

Continue reading →

Forsyth Technical Community College Small Business Center Director Allan Younger used a single word to describe how small businesses and entrepreneurs will be affected by the shutdown surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak.

Devastating.

Younger this week is pointing those seeking advice to the U.S. Small Business Administration and to business owners’ local chambers of commerce websites for direction.

“Everybody knows that depending on what type of small business it is, this situation is going to be devastating to many of them,” Younger said.

“I think what people are often overlooking is there are ways to support these businesses.”

With bars and restaurants shutting down inside service, people can take advantage of curbside service, take-out and home delivery.

Younger posted to his social media –– LinkedIn and other platforms –– some area startups that provide those kinds of services.

“I would definitely go to (the SBA) website. I have heard that they are trying to make even more available than they normally make available. Because this is not only a crisis, this is probably the biggest crisis that a lot of businesses are going to face,” he said.

“In addition to that, I would encourage business owners to look at the small business center website, to look at every chamber of commerce website, to see what resources they offer.”

Around the Triad, incubator and accelerator spaces and co-working sites are also having to take precautions to help blunt the spread of COVID-19. Many are locking down their facilities, opening only to employees and businesses with on-site work spaces.

Visitors are being asked to stay away for the next few weeks and public events are either canceled or postponed.

Venture Café in Winston-Salem holds regular “Thursday Night Gatherings,” mixers where would-be entrepreneurs and small-business owners network, exchange ideas and sit-in on workshops.

Those gatherings have been moved from in-person to a virtual experience for the time being.

“It is incredibly difficult if you are in startup mode, because when you are in startup mode a lot of your efforts are meeting people, understanding what the market requires and needs, and being able to position your business to respond to what the market needs,” Younger said.

With programs like Venture Café going virtual, or in other cases being called off, that really limits a startup’s ability to do the work it needs to get off the ground.

“A huge component of market research is interacting with people and saying, ‘hey, this is what my new business is going to do. How do you feel about it,’” Younger said.

“And people will tell you, ‘Yeah, that is a great idea, or no, that is not a great idea.’

“Right now business owners do not have that opportunity.”

Continue reading →