The Rotary Club of Winnfield received an energized view of efforts to expand workforce development and student success initiatives through Central Louisiana Technical Community College when its new chancellor spoke September 9.
While tradition continues to direct high school seniors to four-year colleges and universities, Dr. Heather Poole pointed out that many of the high-paying, readily available jobs in our region actually require more than a secondary education but less than a four-year degree, with the costs that entails. A Technical Community College route should not be considered a “second choice” option for career skills training but rather a workforce development opportunity.
CLTCC has seven campuses spread across central Louisiana, serving a ten-parish region. The central campus is in Alexandria but the focus of Dr. Poole’s talk was the Huey P. Long campus here in Winnfield. Longtime residents who have not followed the impressive progress of the school may still think of it as the “Vo-Tech” or even the older “Trade School.” Dr. Poole suggested they should view the state-of-the-art HPL Campus, one of the regional highlights.
Unfortunately, the campus is underutilized so the chancellor detailed work being done to expand various workforce programs to involve as many students as possible. She pointed to the tremendous artificial intelligence data center project in Richland Parish that promises 7,500 construction jobs and 1,000 permanent jobs. “We want to see those jobs go to workforce-trained people here in north Louisiana rather than them bringing in workers from out-of-state.”
She said other similar opportunities could open up in our region and CLTCC wants to help supply a workforce trained and ready to take those jobs. She described the people of our region, both men and women, as “workers,” highly suitable for the opportunities opening up.
The chancellor is no stranger of higher education. The MBA graduate from LSU went on the Louisiana Tech for her doctorate in higher education administration. She’s worked to promote economic development in Central Louisiana as well as advancing educational opportunities for all Louisianans. She’s been described as “a respected voice in higher education and a champion of education, workforce alignment and student success.”
Among the many leadership organizations in which she’s involved is her longtime membership in the Rotary Club of Downtown Alexandria.