The Evolution of Joe College: Trade Schools, Technical Training Filling More Jobs in Arkansas

By Kenneth Heard & Dwain Hebda

For years, anything earned less than a four-year college degree was viewed somewhat with disdain. Vocational and trade schools, internships, and other educational alternatives were not believed to be as impressive as the traditional university programs.

Those seeking the alternative venues were seen back then as slackers, those with Lucky Strike smokes rolled up in their T-shirt sleeves and dirty fingernails.

That has all changed now, and two-year community colleges, technical training and other job programs have filled many jobs in Arkansas. They have also kept people in the state, increased its tax base and helped communities expand.

The phenomenon is having a domino effect as the educational alternatives continue to grow and more students seek them out.

“We still need colleges,” said state workforce director Mike Rogers. “They are important institutions. I don’t want to take that from anyone, but we are also seeing a need for the other forms of training.

“Those who go into that are not ‘less than.’ We are helping them find the next step.”

Last year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor reported, a plumber with a two-year apprenticeship could earn an average annual salary of $61,500, while a four-year social worker degree at a university made about $51,000 a year.

“We’ve got to help kids get a good foundation,” said Diane Zook, a former educator, Arkansas Board of Education member and member of the Southern Regional Education Board, a 16-state organization charged with improving educational opportunities.

Diane Zook

“They are going to be the leaders of tomorrow,” she said. “The opportunities and jobs are there. We have to show young people the importance of finding them.”

The focus of several efforts is to reach students who may not be college bound but are qualified to receive technical training for thousands of jobs in the state.

Zook’s husband, Randy Zook, is CEO of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce/Associated Industries of Arkansas. The state chamber created Be Pro Be Proud, a six-state organization that “brings the perception of technical schools into the 21st century,” its website states.

Randy Zook

Be Pro Be Proud uses custom-built vans and trailers to travel to schools and sites to offer students virtual reality simulators of driving trucks and tractors and information on technical jobs, medical professions, utility lineman careers, and construction and engineering opportunities.

Zook developed the program in Arkansas in 2017 after seeing how employers in the state were having difficulties filling high-skilled jobs.

“There were thousands of jobs available but not the right people to fill those jobs,” Zook said. “Kids back then thought that if you didn’t go to college, you were economic roadkill. We developed Be Pro Be Proud to give kids a taste of the opportunities.”

The program helps lead prospective employees into positions in industries such as health care, mechanics, distribution, construction and manufacturing. He said Be Pro Be Proud is now looking into providing information and training about broadband internet careers.

“There are thousands of jobs out there with salaries higher than the average wages,” Zook said.

In Arkansas, about 100,000 students have visited the Be Pro Be Proud mobile since its inception. During a typical school day, 1,500 students may receive job information from the program.

“It’s a mindset,” Zook said. “There are tens of thousands of jobs. They are ready career opportunities. We have to get a jump on getting them started. It’s had an impact on the state, and it’s still growing.”

Goodwill Industries of Arkansas is also in the job-training business.

CEO Brian Marsh said the organization, which is mostly known for its distribution of donations, trains people in various skills.

Brian Marsh

As of July 1, 950 have received training, Marsh said. An 18-week training in welding can earn a participant a job with a yearly salary of $35,000, he added.

“We look for jobs that will be here in three to five years,” Marsh said. “We want to meet the needs of the communities by finding good positions.”

Goodwill of Arkansas began the training program in 2013 and now has technical training centers in Little Rock and northwest Arkansas. In addition to providing specific skills training and certificates, the centers also help participants in earning high school diplomas.

There are 49 Goodwill sites in the state. Eighty-five percent of the state’s population lives within 15 minutes of a Goodwill, Marsh said.

“People know who we are, but they don’t always know what we do,” he said.

County jails are also trying to help educate people and reenter them into the workforce after being released from incarceration.

Pulaski County Sheriff Eric Higgins oversees the CSI Academy at the Pulaski County Regional Detention Facility. The academy offers a program consisting of four hours a day five days a week for 12 weeks. Classes include conquering chemical dependency, cognitive behavior therapy, peer recovery support and “inside-out dads.”

Sheriff Eric Higgins

A second phase offers six-week courses in welding, industrial manufacturing and culinary arts. Higgins said there are currently about 100 men and 30 women in the reentry program.

The sheriff said he is working on the third phase, which is finding employment.

“The last phase of it is sending people to work,” Higgins said. “We’re still working on that aspect of it. We still need more programming coming in, but we do help with finding housing, and we deal with addiction.”

He said the jail is using a grant to place people in treatment programs when they leave the jail, and the program has gained a good reputation for success.

“I think we’ve had every circuit court judge sending someone to our program,” he said. “That’s fine. We work closely with the drug court.”

While enrollment dipped slightly this year at the University of Arkansas — Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock due to changes in applying for Pell Grants, there are still about 4,500 students attending, Chancellor Summer DeProw said.

The school, which has 350 employees, offers courses in five-star culinary, technical sciences, allied health, logistics, engineering, business technology, law enforcement, cosmetology, education and general studies.

Summer DeProw

“Historically, there’s been a vo-tech mentality associated with this,” DeProw said. “That’s no longer the term. We use ‘direct employment’ now.’”

Programs provide customized training for various industries, ensuring students who upon earning degrees or certificates are quickly employed.

The college has an amazing success rate, DeProw said. Ninety-two percent of its graduates are employed and 86 percent are still in the field they studied for two years after completing coursework.

The college received a $5.7 million award from the U.S. Department of Labor in April to expand its nursing education program, DeProw said. It also is continuing developing partnerships with various industries to better prepare its students for future employment.

“It is an exciting time,” DeProw said.  “Things are moving fast, and we’ve got to stay ahead.  Instead of waiting for industry to find our students, we want to look ahead two years and have jobs waiting for them when they step out.”

Rogers, who was appointed the state’s chief workforce officer in 2023 by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said the various alternative education programs are a boon for the state.

“People need jobs. Employers need people,” he said.  “We ask employers, ‘What do you need?’ and get to the next step. We give them the education for those jobs.”

He said keeping people in the state for jobs will create an economic cycle. A program at Northeastern Arkansas College in Blytheville tailors training specifically to provide steel businesses with trained employees. The program keeps students in the Mississippi County town, boosts local tax revenues and helps businesses profit.

“We’re seeing a lot of success stories,” Rogers said. “It’s encouraging to me to see people who are having hope now.”

FEATURE IMAGE TOP: Graduates of Pulaski Tech in North Little Rock are finding job success after leaving school, the school reported. (Photo provided)

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