This “umbrella” workforce training collaborative was formed in 1997 to identify and create business and industry training capabilities and best practices at each college, and to collectively respond to local, regional, or statewide workforce training requests. This is done through sharing resources such as instructional personnel and curriculum.  All 22 Arkansas two-year colleges participate in this consortium.

The WFTC provides training annually to over 53,000 employees and pre-employment workers from over 2,500 businesses and industries (such as advanced manufacturing, transportation and logistics, information technology, aerospace and defense, environmental/sustainable, agri-technologies, construction trades) and other business and community based organizations (such as healthcare, nonprofits, government, utilities, hospitality, education, retail, financial services, public safety).

The two-year colleges voluntarily utilized their own resources to create/expand these high-demand economic development service arenas and, with some later US Department of Labor and National Science Foundation project grants, now employ over 50 full-time trainers/coordinators and 400 part-time trainers employed in business/industry. The WFTC has been nationally recognized for its innovative, collaborative success. It is the foundation model for the development of newer regional, sectoral multi-college training alliances.

For more information on how AATYC can coordinate customized training for your business, please contact Steve Lease at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (479) 424-0071.

WorkForce Training Consortium Member Colleges & Contact Information

The Arkansas Rural Nursing Education Consortium (ARNEC) is comprised of six two-year colleges from around the state. The colleges came together to form one LPN/LPTN/LVN-to-RN transition program. Graduates receive an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) Degree in Nursing.  The six participating colleges include Cossatot Community College of the UA, Arkansas State University-Newport, Black River Technical College, Ozarka College, South Arkansas Community College, and the UA Community College at Morrilton.

For more information about the Arkansas Rural Nursing Education Consortium (ARNEC), contact Jill Hasley at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The Arkansas Delta Allied Health Training and Education Initiative formed in 2009 with a US Department of Labor grant.  The five participating colleges include Arkansas Northeastern College, Arkansas State University-Newport, East Arkansas Community College, Mid-South Community College, and Phillips Community College of the UA.

For more information about the Arkansas Delta Allied Health Training & Education Initiative, contact Brenda Holifield at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Arkansas Delta Training and Education Consortium (ADTEC) was officially recognized in 2005 when awarded a $5.9 million U.S. Department of Labor grant to build capacity to deliver automotive and advanced manufacturing training in eastern Arkansas. ADTEC is comprised of Arkansas Northeastern College, Arkansas State University-Newport, East Arkansas Community College, Mid-South Community College, and Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas.

Since its inception, the ADTEC partnership has successfully garnered more than $43 million in external funding to develop curriculum, career pathway programs, and capacity to deliver workforce training in advanced manufacturing, renewable energy technology, transportation/logistics, and allied health, all driven by industry needs and with ongoing input and engagement from industry partners.  The curricula and competency frameworks developed for these programs have been adopted as the official state secondary center curricula.  A student can enter a career pathway as a high school student, a college student after high school graduation, or as an incumbent or dislocated worker.  At any designated exit point, a student can stop out of the program and enter the workforce with a college credential and industry-specific skills.

The newly created ADTEC University Center engages university partners from across the state, who deliver bachelor’s degrees as the capstone of the identified career pathways via distance learning technologies to each ADTEC college.  This is unique in that there are no universities or bachelor’s degrees available to the majority of the Arkansas Delta population, who are mostly place bound and financially unable to leave the area to enroll in a university.

Governor Beebe cites ADTEC as the workforce development model for Arkansas. Additionally, ADTEC has earned national recognition for four consecutive years, most recently identified as a finalist for the 2010 Bellwether Award in the category of Workforce Development. Also in 2009, ADTEC was highlighted as a model program for workforce training in a Workforce Strategy Center report commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  ADTEC was selected as the U.S. Department of Labor 2008 Recognition of Excellence winner in the category Building a Regionally Focused Workforce and received the Southern Growth Policies Board Innovator Award in 2007.

For more information about ADTEC, contact ADTEC Director Pauline Vernon at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (870) 733-6792.

Governor's Aerospace Summit to be held March 18, 2010, in Hot Springs!

The Aerospace Training Consortium was formed in 2007 by two-year colleges with aerospace related programs such as: Airframe and Power-plant (A & P) training; Aircraft refurbishment such as cabinetry, upholstery, and exterior finishes/painting; Space/defense industries; and Manufacturing technologies that are convertible to aerospace/aviation applications.

Participating colleges include Arkansas Northeastern College, Arkansas State University-Beebe, River Technical College, National Park Community College, North Arkansas College, Ouachita Technical College, Ozarka College, Pulaski Technical College, Rich Mountain Community College, Southeast Arkansas College, Southern Arkansas University Tech, and the UA Community College at Batesville.

Each college has manufacturing skills training experience. Two colleges have pilot training certificate/associate degree programs that articulate to the Henderson State University Aviation Technology baccalaureate degree. Two colleges are active trainers in Computer Aided Three-Dimensional Interactive Application (CATIA), a preferred aviation design software.

In 2008, one college secured a US Department of Labor (USDOL) aerospace training grant to serve major central Arkansas companies.  Eight other colleges collaborated with AATYC to receive a February 2009 shared USDOL grant to provide eight new FAA-certified instructors and specialists, plus new equipment to upgrade and increase stationary and mobile training capacity to meet statewide demands for A & P, composites technology, cabinetry, and upholstery.

This Consortium is strongly aligned to the Arkansas Economic Development Commission Aerospace Alliance Initiative and the Governor’s Workforce Cabinet.

For more information on how AATYC can coordinate customized aerospace training for your business, please contact Steve Lease at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (479) 424-0071.

AATYC Aerospace Training Consortium Member Colleges & Contact Information

Arkansas Aerospace Alliance

The Entrepreneurship Training Consortium was formed in 2008 to deliver the same seven courses with common curriculum, textbooks and faculty.  Each course counts towards a Technical Certificate in Business and/or a two-year Business Degree.

These common curriculum colleges are Arkansas State University-Beebe, East Arkansas Community College, North Arkansas College, Northwest Arkansas Community College, Ouachita Technical College, Pulaski Technical College, Southern Arkansas University Tech, South Arkansas Community College, Southeast Arkansas College, and the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville.

In addition to a “traditional” student approach, entrepreneurship courses are imbedded in technology programs such as welding, automotive, hospitality/tourism, retail, and cosmetology. These courses are designed to provide the skills necessary for starting and managing a business.  There are also noncredit short courses being developed for existing small business owners/employees and dislocated workers that have no time for semester-based instruction.

For more information on how AATYC can help you meet your business needs, please contact Steve Lease at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (479) 424-0071.

AATYC Entrepreneurship Training Consortium Member Colleges and Contact Information

National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship

Two-year colleges with central Arkansas service area counties and manufacturing technology skills training have organized to provide new “green” industry training and to inject “green” methods/concepts into existing technical programs.

This is developing consortium includes Pulaski Technical College, Arkansas State University-Beebe, Ouachita Technical College, UA Community College at Morrilton, National Park Community College, and Southeast Arkansas College.

For more information on how AATYC can help you meet the “green” technology needs of your business, please contact Steve Lease at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (479) 424-0071.

Northwest Arkansas Community College and Pulaski Technical College were selected to become Building Science Centers of Excellence, through a competitive grant application process of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. These two colleges will develop and/or customize curriculum and deliver training for new energy auditors and various support technicians across Arkansas at their sites as well as the other two-year colleges.

For the Northwest Arkansas Community College Building Science Center of Excellence, contact Rick Mayes at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For more information about Pulaski Technical College Building Science Center of Excellence, contact Mary Ann Shope at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

An Arkansas Career Readiness Certificate (CRC) is a portable credential based upon the WorkKeys® assessments that demonstrates to employers that an individual possesses the basic workplace skills required for 21st century jobs.  Getting a CRC will allow an individual to show prospective employers that he or she possesses the basic skills they are looking for.

Even if a job seeker has a GED, high school diploma or post secondary degree, the Arkansas CRC further verifies that he/she can handle tasks such as finding information, reading instructions and directions, and working with numbers - that are commonly required in today's workplaces.

Arkansas two-year colleges are proud to partner with the Department of Workforce Services to administer WorkKeys® assessments.  All 22 colleges serve as WorkKeys®/CRC assessment sites.

Click here for more information on the Career Readiness Certificate.

Cisco Academies are located in two-year colleges across Arkansas.  They provide networking and router system certification training, plus a variety of other skills and certificates in personal computer maintenance, cyber security, etc.  These certificates and skills are recruited by all types of industries, healthcare, government, education, utilities, and nonprofit organizations.

Arkansas two-year colleges with Cisco Network Academies include Arkansas State University-Beebe, Arkansas State University Mountain Home, Black River Technical College, Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas, Mid-South Community College, National Park Community College, North Arkansas College, Northwest Arkansas Community College, Ouachita Technical College, Pulaski Technical College, South Arkansas Community College, Southern Arkansas University Tech, and the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville.

Cisco Academies are also located in several high schools and four-year universities across the state.

Cisco Networking Academy
Cisco Networking Academy: Arkansas Profile

Arkansas College & Career Planning System, an initiative of Arkansas Works, is a new initiative designed to increase the number of Arkansans seeking education after high school, and most importantly, completing their degrees.  This includes 4-year degrees, 2-year degrees, certificate programs and apprenticeships.

Arkansas College & Career Planning System will give every Arkansan the tools they need to explore possible careers in the State and learn more about the education and training required to move more people into training beyond high school so they can have better career opportunities and more successful futures.

• Adults who are unemployed or under-employed can find out what it takes to get back to school and get the skills to find a better job, or better yet, to begin training for a career, not simply a job.
• Middle and high school students can explore careers and develop plans for education after high school that will put them on the path to success.
• Elementary school students can learn the fundamentals of college and career planning and make the connection between education and future success.

Arkansas College and Career Planning System