This article describes how out-of-work miners are engaged in the Empowering Education Initiative, a unique alliance between Country Music Television (CMT) and community colleges in Appalachia. The initiative, which includes a website and a series of country music concerts, is changing the conversation in the Appalachian region, giving hope to…

Discusses the issues surrounding the value changes that impact opportunities for workforce development. Emerging technologies have changed the way labor is deployed. Offers exercises aimed at helping community colleges to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the industries they serve. Contains three figures and five references. (NB)

Argues that global diversity has become a business imperative in today's business climate. Global diversity is of core importance even for companies that are considered domestic. Suggests community colleges need help in understanding their customer base and their shifting values in order to meet their needs and win customer loyalty. (NB)

Discusses a program developed to assist displaced workers in a small town in Arkansas after a uniform-manufacturing company shut down and moved to Mexico, leaving nearly 200 unskilled workers unemployed. Reports that almost 100 of the workers became community college students through a cooperative program that involved the schools, the state, the…

States that, when a major local employer closed its doors, Chemeketa Community College (Oregon) joined forces with state agencies and opened the Woodburn Workforce Transition Center to help the displaced workers with vocational counseling, language and literacy assessments, developing interview skills, and resume writing. Warns that similar…