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Steven Matthews, VP of Workforce and Economic Development at South Louisiana Community College, is pictured in the welding department on Thursday, September 22, 2022, at the school's main campus in Lafayette.

 STAFF PHOTO BY BRAD BOWIE
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I believe intelligence is comprised of a multitude of skill sets. This can be anything from insight or an idea to application methodologies, and through training progression, it becomes a process put into motion at will.

South Louisiana Community College’s \Economic and Workforce Development Division is one of the largest community college workforce development systems within Louisiana, with nine training facilities and a region spanning eight parishes. Our mission is to offer training programs that address our region's labor market and demand. We also strive to ensure that our training modalities move at the pace of business and industry to deliver world-class employee pipelines.

With the future of the Acadiana region as our No. 1 priority, one of the key economic drivers for SLCC and the Economic and Workforce Division is to address the skills gap and competency gap of the workforce within the Acadiana region. Thus, the EWD seeks to address the demands for a skilled workforce by training individuals with the industry-based credentials and skills requested by businesses and industries in real-time.

New companies are constantly moving to the Acadiana region. With that growth comes opportunity for our institution. For example, just this year, we witnessed the relocation of West Field Fluids from California to Lafayette and another expansion of Safe Source Direct in Broussard. This move and the expansion project have benefited our Workforce Training Division here at SLCC, brought new jobs to our communities, and yet again advanced the sustainability of our futures and our children’s futures.

Both initiatives have resulted in partnerships with SLCC and directly resulted in the development of the CNC Precision Machining program at SLCC’s Lafayette campus. The CNC Precision Machining program at Lafayette is currently in its second cohort of students, producing future members of a highly skilled and trained Acadiana workforce.

When looking at the future needs of the Acadiana region and the need for specialized training programs, SLCC is fortunate to possess an immense service area and the existence of rural campuses. These rural campuses provide the same quality of training and equipment and help reduce the barriers for underrepresented populations facing economic challenges related to distance to the main campus and transportation disparities.

SLCC’s Economic and Workforce Development Division continuously works with legislative members and Louisiana economic development teams to bring innovative training and partnerships to the Acadiana people. For example, SLCC is partnering with Louisiana universities and businesses to expand Louisiana’s presence in the alternative fuels space. SLCC is now a part of the creation phase with the H2theFuture initiative to build a clean hydrogen energy cluster. The objective of this project is to reduce and decarbonize the South Louisiana industrial corridor and to refine the hydrogen production sector ().

SLCC and the Workforce division will be responsible for training the next generation of energy and construction workers through industry-related training programs. We are developing new curricula and training methodologies through the Workforce programs to result in tomorrow’s high-wage, high-demand jobs. This ideology and training model keeps SLCC and the Economic and Workforce division relevant and makes the futures of the Acadiana region and its people sustainable for generations to come.

Steven Mathews is vice president of economic and workforce development at South Louisiana Community College.