Jacques takes part in Business NC Roundtable Discussion

Patrick Jacques, program director and apprenticeship coordinator at Robeson Community College, is featured in this month’s edition of Business NC Magazine, as a panelist on a roundtable discussion focused on manufacturing.

 “It was an honor and privilege to be surrounded by such influential personalities in manufacturing,” said Jacques. “It was very informative.”

Joining Jacques on the panel was Geoff Foster, President and CEO of Core Technology Molding; Phil Mintz, the executive director of NCSU Industry Expansion Solutions and NC Manufacturing Extension Partnership, who moderated the discussion; Sharon Paynter, acting chief research and engagement officer and associate professor for East Carolina University; Jerry Pedley, president of Mertek Solutions; and Matt Wood, national industry leader of commercial products practice at Forvis.

For Jacques, the biggest takeaway from the discussion were the issues facing manufacturing today.

“In some ways listening to the challenges everyone was having to overcome, not just technology, but the skillsets and trying to get folks interested in that line of work really stood out to me,” said Jacques. “It was interesting hearing from people who are on the ground, who work in the field and where they see manufacturing in the next few years, and how community colleges and apprenticeships will come into play as a part of that.”

To read the transcript of the roundtable discussion, you can visit https://issuu.com/businessnc/docs/bnc_aug2022/38 You can also watch the panel discussion on YouTube at  https://youtu.be/KJUP1OJZ4gM.