Developing a skilled and well-trained workforce is essential for the growth and prosperity of any region.
The WBCP partnership is taking a novel approach to workforce development by leveraging the technical centers in each of the partner cities. Since all of the cities have technical centers as a part of their school systems, the plan is to allow students to attend technical centers in other cities. Another part of the plan is to allow adults to attend the technical centers at night. The WBCP is also looking at partnering with the Northwest Technical Institute to allow people to obtain a skill. Gravette has an NTI satellite campus which would make it easier for residents of the Western Benton County corridor to receive training. However, one challenge facing the centers is finding qualified teachers to teach different courses. To address this, the WBCP is exploring partnerships between superintendents and business leaders to help bring in the necessary expertise.