The auditorium in Independence Hall at the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville was empty Monday morning except for a couple of people gathered around the piano onstage. A piano tuner was there to work on the instrument, which was going to be used later in the week for a community function.
UACCB was recently named the Large Business of the Year at the 2015 Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony, and providing Independence Hall for events is just one way the school tries to make an impact on the surrounding community.
“Over 50,000 people come in and out of this building every year,” said Deborah Frazier, chancellor at UACCB. “We do elementary dance shows; we do spelling bees; we do graduations for local high schools. It’s probably currently the best facility for you to not be in a hot place. … This Independence Hall represents a community service.”
Frazier said offering use of the facility is only one aspect of UACCB’s community involvement. Another major piece to that puzzle is the school’s focus on workforce development.
Some of the school’s programs that feed directly into the workforce are nursing, welding, HVAC ((heating, ventilating and air conditioning), aviation maintenance, cosmetology and business technology. Students can earn certificates of proficiency, technical certificates or associate degrees at UACCB, and each step includes industry standards to make sure students are prepared for the workforce.
“Some of our programs, like HVAC and welding — we have to be very cautious because employers will come out here and, if they see someone talented, try to grab them up before they even finish the program,” Frazier said. “We try to encourage them to finish. We’re trying to match up our workforce development program with industry standards.”
Last year, Gene Tulberg became the director of workforce development and industrial technology at the school, focusing on communication with local industry leaders and making sure the college’s workforce training leads to marketable skills.
“Besides technical skills, there are three major soft skills needed in the workforce,” Tulberg said in a press release. “Employers need workers who excel in teamwork, who have an ability to solve problems and who can troubleshoot equipment and processes.”
Part of Tulberg’s job is to make sure students will be able to find a job within the community after they finish their program. One company Tulberg has worked with specifically is Intimidator, a Batesville-based company that specializes in producing 4X4 utility vehicles.
Intimidator CFO Rusty Branscum said Tulberg visited the company’s warehouse with other UACCB representatives to get a firsthand look at what students will need to learn to be successful Intimidator employees.
“They wanted to see what our welding process was, so we toured the plant, and they saw the type of welding we do here,” Branscum said. “They immediately changed their curriculum so the students could be learning so they would be skilled appropriately for our company.”
Branscum said Intimidator is a relatively new company interested in growing, and UACCB has already aided that process with connecting Intimidator to other organizations that could help the company continue to succeed.
Intimidator leaders like to hire people from the community, and UACCB’s welding program is one way to make sure the hometown employees are well trained and prepared for the job. Branscum said that in his mind, UACCB is fulfilling its goal of being community-minded by reaching out to companies like Intimidator and reworking curriculum to fit local, real-world careers.
“They’re living and doing it,” he said. “All together, we’re going to make Arkansas a better place.”