Arkansas Delta Training and Education Consortium
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 $50 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.

The following regional consortia were recently developed, based on the ADTEC model, to promote education and workforce development in their respective service areas.

Central Arkansas Two-Year College Consortium
The Central Arkansas Two-Year College Consortium includes Arkansas State University- Beebe, National Park Community College (Hot Springs), Ouachita Technical College (Malvern), Pulaski Technical College (North Little Rock), Southeast Arkansas College (Pine Bluff), and the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton.

North Arkansas Two-Year College Consortium
The North Arkansas Two-Year College Consortium includes Arkansas State University- Mountain Home, Black River Technical College (Pocahontas), NorthWest Arkansas Community College (Bentonville), North Arkansas College (Harrison), Ozarka College (Melbourne), and the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville.

Southwest Arkansas Community College Consortium
The Southwest Arkansas Community College Consortium includes Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas (DeQueen), Rich Mountain Community College (Mena), South Arkansas Community College (El Dorado), Southern Arkansas University Tech (East Camden), and the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope.