Guilford Joins Forces with Area Businesses and Colleges in Opportunity Greensboro
Guilford College is collaborating with local businesses and the leaders of Greensboro’s six other colleges and universities taking part in Opportunity Greensboro, a ground-breaking partnership designed to leverage the area’s educational resources to drive economic development.
“We’re all working to the same goal, to make Greensboro a better place,” President Kent John Chabotar said in a video promoting the partnership. “To have great employees come for business, to have great students graduate from our colleges and universities and to stay here.”
There are more than 47,000 undergraduate and post-graduate students at the seven colleges within Greensboro’s city limits. In addition to the performances, art exhibits, lectures and seminars that each college offers, these educational institutions attract a diverse, highly educated population.
Opportunity Greensboro focuses on connecting local businesses with student and academic resources. Businesses can access the specialized knowledge available at the colleges, while students can take advantage of opportunities for internships and mentoring.
The group cites the Green at Guilford initiatives as one example of knowledge-based economic collaboration in the community. Among Guilford’s environmentally sustainable projects was the 2010 partnership with FLS Energy, which paid for the installation of 188 solar thermal panels on eight College buildings.
Other examples are the Joint School of Nanoscience at UNC Greensboro and N.C. A&T University, and Guilford Technical Community College’s agreement with Honda Aircraft Company to provide specialized training to workers at the HondaJet facility at Piedmont Triad International Airport.
A new promotional campaign features Opportunity Greensboro’s members on billboards and at the airport.
