LITTLE ROCK — While others decry the economic conditions in the Arkansas Delta, community colleges in the region are working quietly but steadily to improve the east Arkansas workforce.
In October, the Arkansas Delta Training and Education Consortium will celebrate its seventh anniversary. Referred to by most people in the region simply as ADTEC, it has attracted more than $55 million in grants. ADTEC members are Mid-South Community College at West Memphis, Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas at Helena-West Helena, Arkansas Northeastern College at Blytheville, East Arkansas Community College at Forrest City and Arkansas State University-Newport.
Though the average Arkansan might not be aware of ADTEC, the consortium has received national recognition from those involved in the fields of economic development and workforce education. Consider that:
In 2007, ADTEC earned a Southern Growth Policies Board Innovator of the Year Award.
In 2008, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded the consortium its Recognition of Excellence Award for building a regional workforce strategy.
In 2009, ADTEC received recognition in a workforce training report that had been commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
In 2010, the consortium received the Bellwether Award from the Community College Futures Assembly.
So what exactly does ADTEC do? Initial funding from the Department of Labor allowed the five community colleges to begin providing industrydriven training opportunities. The schools share faculty members, equipment, curriculum and best practices. The industries themselves help define what students should learn.
“These two-year schools have created an opportunity and a strength far greater than any one campus,” says Gov. Mike Beebe. “This vision for affordable and accessible higher education is changing the entire dynamic of the Delta.”
Chris Masingill, the Arkansan who heads the eight-state Delta Regional Authority, puts it even more bluntly: “If there’s a single great success story from our entire region that the world wants to copy, it’s ADTEC. What we’re doing here with this model is successful.”
High school juniors and seniors can enroll in college-level programs at any of the five campuses, concurrently earning high school and college credits. Students who complete two-year programs earn certificates of proficiency and up to 24 college credits to apply toward technical certificates and associate of applied science degrees.
“For our state to truly reach its potential, we need all regions to be successful, not just the central and northwest sections,” says Glen Fenter, the Mid-South Community College president. “The continued success of our statewide and regional economic development efforts is directly tied to ADTEC’s ability to train and educate workers.”
Fenter is a northwest Arkansas native who decided to make his career on the other side of the state.
Steven Murray, the chancellor of Phillips Community College, calls it “a rare opportunity to do nothing less than transform the Arkansas Delta.”
The success of ADTEC has led to momentum on the individual campuses. Last month, for example, Mid-South dedicated the $9-million Marion Berry Renewable Energy Center. The facility is named after the former congressman from Arkansas’ 1st District. The center includes advanced laboratories for the study of biofuel production. There are also engine test cells for researchers who are trying to develop alternative fuels and lubricants.
“It’s our hope that this center can become a symbol for the entire region—that things can change; new opportunities can be created; that, in fact, the Delta’s best days do lie ahead,” Fenter says. “We have all the tools. We have everything in place. We have an unbelievable opportunity to create a new day in eastern Arkansas.”
In talking about the Delta, former President Clinton has said that the surest way to create opportunities for the region’s residents is to “change the way we produce and consume energy.”
That’s the mission of the renewable energy center in West Memphis. Fenter believes business and civic leaders in that part of the Delta are now “energized by the opportunities that exist for eastern Arkansas and particularly alternative fuels. A lot of the technology that we have at our disposal today because of this facility is certainly going to expedite those opportunities.”
On the day the renewable energy center was dedicated, Berry expressed his continued optimism for a Delta renaissance: “Glen Fenter and I spent many hours and became great friends trying to figure out a way to build this community and this region. The land and the water and the people can do it. It will be interesting to see if we can politically do the other things that it will require to make this all come together and work like it should.”
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Freelance columnist Rex Nelson is the president of Arkansas’ Independent Colleges and Universities. He’s also the author of the Southern Fried blog at rexnelsonsouthernfried.com
Editorial, Pages 17 on 09/26/2012