“I think I know her,” Dean Dwayne Ponton (Roanoke-Chowan Community College) said to me minutes before our quarterly meeting began. We were in the Continuing Education building at Nash Community College with others from across the region to highlight our Advanced Manufacturing career pathway.  His gaze led me to Duna Long, Special Projects/Outreach Coordinator for Turning Point Workforce Development Board. I called her over, and heard her exclaim as she recognized him “Hey, I know you!” 

Years ago, when Dean Ponton was a high school student in Northampton County, Duna Long was the Business Education Partnership Manager for Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce (RVCC). In this position, she coordinated many events which connected high school students and local businesses.  One of those events, which RVCC still hosts today, was an opportunity to do mock interviews. Dean Ponton had so impressed Ms. Long during his mock interview that she vividly remembered him more than a decade later. 

As it turns out, they had crossed paths a few times over the years as Dean Ponton worked towards his career goals. He now serves as Dean of Business Technologies and Public Service for Roanoke-Chowan Community College. He has been instrumental in coordinating a variety of events focused on career pathways in our region over the past year. I already knew he had the heart for this work, but it was only weeks ago that I learned he was a product of this work!

NENC Career Pathways partnership has been working across a 20-county region for more than a decade, focused on highlighting highly-skilled careers that are in-demand in our region and which pay sustainable wages.  Our partners include Education, Workforce and Industry professionals along with many Community groups and organizations. Northampton County Schools is a partner in this work, as is Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce, Turning Point Workforce Development Board and Roanoke-Chowan Community College. 

One of the things we are highlighting in our career pathways work is the need for building and maintaining close partnerships. I’ve been creating and sharing scenarios to help our partners understand the importance of working together towards this common goal. We all want to help the people in our communities explore and choose sustainably-waged career pathways which will keep them “in our own backyards” so that we don’t continue to lose our neighbors to brain drain. Highlighting “pathways in action” like Dean Ponton’s helps show the value of the work we are doing. While we do collect data, it is often difficult to show the true worth of these partnerships with only numbers. It is the stories of success which flow throughout our region that help to sustain those of us who continue to do this work. Congratulations to all of the partners who helped Dean Ponton along the way, and to Dean Ponton for the amazing work that he continues to do in our region.

Pictured left to right: Esther Harris, Business Education Partnership Manager (Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce), Dean Ponton (Roanoke-Chowan CC), Duna Long and Frince Williams (Turning Point WDB)