Empowering Community College Partnerships for Economic Development and Industrial Policy

Implementation approaches may shift under the new Congress and administration, but the multi-billion dollar and bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act—and industrial policies like it—are still poised to create thousands of job opportunities and require upskilling for incumbent workers.

Many of these jobs won't need a college degree but will require some post-high school training. That applies to the semiconductor industry and other emerging technology areas boosted by the "science" part.

America's community colleges will be critical to successfully implementing the CHIPS Act and preparing the skilled technical workforce these sectors will need. Today, community colleges are more than transfer pathways to universities or education hubs for America's welders, care workers, and manufacturing sectors.

Community college pathways open doors to jobs shaped or created by the emerging technology areas emphasized in CHIPS—including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, and beyond.

But, too often, community colleges are left to navigate emerging labor market needs without adequate support. Faced with chronic underinvestment, unfair stigma, complex technology hype cycles, low-quality or misleading information about the economy and workforce, and inadequate professional development for college personnel, among other challenges. Such barriers stand to sideline the benefits of CHIPS for middle-class families and hamstring employers seeking qualified talent.

That's why in September 2024, with support from Ascendium Education Group, New America partnered with the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to launch the Accelerator for Community Colleges in the Innovation Economy.

This first-of-its-kind initiative will provide community colleges with the institutional capacity-building support needed to maximize their impact in a signature aspect of the CHIPS Act implementation—the NSF's Regional Innovation Engines investments.

NSF Regional Innovation Engines offers up to ten years of funding to regional consortiums comprised of companies, universities, community colleges, economic development organizations, and local governments. The goal is to boost place-based, tech-driven economic growth and job creation around CHIPS tech areas through applied research, technology development, and workforce training.

NSF Engines is tasked with carrying out Congress’ vision to broaden access to the fruits of the innovation economy and grow future-forward industries in parts of the nation that missed out on the 20th-century rise of Silicon Valley, Boston, and other tech hubs.

By fostering these industries, the Engines can help reclaim global leadership and competitiveness abroad—but also ensure that left-behind communities can benefit from that leadership here at home.

Launched by the White House and NSF earlier this year at Forsyth Technical College, the Regional Innovation Engines represents one of the broadest and most substantial investments in place-based and research-driven economic development since the Morrill Act established the national network of land-grant universities during the Civil War.

All Engines include community colleges as named partners. Speaking at New America this summer, NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan highlighted the centrality of community colleges in ensuring the success of Engines, stating that "none of the Regional Innovation Engines will be successful if we don't have the capacity of the skilled technical workforce unleashed at full force and full scale, everywhere."

Over the next three years, the Accelerator will offer community college partners across NSF Engines capacity-building support, including through a national community of practice, technical assistance, project funding, and national and local convenings. We will also advance related research and storytelling around the role of community colleges in the innovation economy.

Areas of focus for capacity-building will include supporting colleges with modernizing data usage infrastructure, expanding work-based learning, improving non-degree credentials quality, building board leadership capacity, addressing students' basic needs like childcare, and more.

Partners Council for the Accelerator for Community Colleges in the Innovation Economy

However, to achieve the intended scale of impact and the enduring system change needed both locally and nationally, we won’t be able to do it alone.

In the same ethos of the NSF Engines program, now is the time to collectively unite across higher education, workforce development, science and industrial policy, and economic development communities to reimagine next-generation community college partnerships and economic development ecosystems nationwide.

To that end, New America is launching a Partners Council for the Accelerator for Community Colleges in the Innovation Economy.

This one-of-a-kind national network comprises leaders from membership associations representing higher education, industry, governors, mayors, local officials, workforce boards, K-12 policy leaders, community and economic development organizations, and science societies.

Accelerator Partners Council will provide guidance and assist New America in researching and disseminating replicable strategies that maximize partnerships between community colleges and their organization's membership.

Together with these leaders and associations, New America aims to both support community college partnerships locally across the Engines' footprint—and promote nationwide evolution in how sector leaders approach community college partnerships.

"Partnerships with community colleges are key to fulfilling the workforce mission of the Regional Innovation Engines program," said Erwin Gianchandani, NSF's Assistant Director for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships, who leads the new arm created under the CHIPS Act spearheading Engines.

Gianchandani's directorate has led the agency's expanded programs for community colleges.

“In particular, as we grow these emerging innovation ecosystems, we look to collaborations like the one that New America has initiated to convene key stakeholders around a community of practice for community colleges to aggregate best practices, research insights and recognition, technical assistance, capacity-building funding and broader support structures.”

Our Partners Council members include the following leaders:

• Karen Stout, CEO, Achieving the Dream
• Susan Renoe, Executive Director, Alliance for Research in Society (ARIS)
• Travis York, Director of Inclusive STEMM Ecosystems for Equity & Diversity, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
• Matt Bogoshian, Executive Director, American Manufacturing Communities Collaborative
• Emily Miller, Deputy Vice President for Institutional Policy, Association of American Universities
• Steve Jurch, Associate Vice President, Association of Community College Trustees
• Levi Shank, Assistant Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities
• Christofer Nelson, CEO, Association of Science and Technology Centers
• Vickie Palmer, CEO, Association of University Research Parks
• Jennifer Thornton, Senior Vice President and Chief Programs Officer, Business-Higher Education Forum
• Chad Evans, Executive Vice President, Council on Competitiveness
• Tom Keily, Principal, Education Commission of the States
• Claudia Bellony, Senior Manager, International Economic Development Council
• Mala Thakur, Senior Director for Programs, National Association of Workforce Boards
• Michelle Rafferty, Chief Program Officer, National Fund for Workforce Solutions
• Amanda Winters, Program Director, National Governors Association
• Michael Bartlett, Program Director, National League of Cities
• Tepring Piquado, Executive Director, National Science Policy Network
• Deb Volzer, Vice President, SME
• Dan Berglund, President, SSTI
• Jeffrey Sache, President, University Economic Development Association
• Anthony Boccunfuso, President and CEO, UIDP

We are grateful for the opportunity to work with this group of leaders and their teams to maximize the impact of community college partnerships. To follow our work and receive updates about engagement opportunities, we invite you to subscribe to our newsletter.

Our efforts will strengthen community colleges and NSF Engines and help ensure that the CHIPS Act and similar investments achieve shared prosperity in the new economy.