ROCKY MOUNT — The Rocky Mount Area Chamber of Commerce and the Tarboro Edgecombe Chamber of Commerce have partnered together to host the Twin County Business Education Summit on Nov. 19 at the Nash Community College Business and Industry Center in NCC's Brown Auditorium. 

The event will begin at 7:30 a.m., will conclude around 1 p.m. and will include a luncheon. 

Tickets for the Education Summit are $20 per person, with seating for eight for $140.  Tickets may be purchased on line at www.rockymountchamber.org or by calling 973-1211.

The event will feature presentations and discussions on “Building A World Class Education Economy.” 

Early morning presentations will begin with the events keynote speaker, Executive Director of the North Carolina Association of School Administrators Bill McNeal.

Additional early morning presentations will be made by Distinguished Professor of the Kenan Flagler School of Business Dr. James H. Johnson Jr., Golden LEAF Foundation President Dan Gerlach and Virtual Public Schools CEO Dr. Bryan Setser.

Presentations will be moderated by Public School Forum President and CEO John Dornan.

Mid-morning presentations will be made by Turning Point Workforce Development Board Executive Director Michael Williams, Nash Community College President Dr. Bill Carver, Edgecombe Community College President Dr. Deborah Lamm, Gateway Technology Center Director Marilynn Anselmi and DownEast Partnership for Children Executive Director Henrietta Zalkind.

The luncheon will be held at 11:30 a.m. and will involve table discussions and summary remarks from the presentations by the invited guest speaker, North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue.

The Education Summit has come about through a renewed development of educational partnerships the Rocky Mount Area Chamber of Commerce and its Board of Directors have sought.

An education committee comprised of business members, public and private school officials in Nash and Edgecombe Counties, Nash and Edgecombe Community Colleges, North Carolina Wesleyan College, the Gateway Technology Center, the Down East Partnership for Children and the Upper Coastal Plain Learning Council.

The mission of the committee is to strengthen the economy of the Twin County region by highlighting and supporting strategies that work for all children and students.

Many positive initiatives are taking place in schools across the region that are better preparing our students for 21st Century jobs, both existing jobs and those the area is working to attract to sustain continued economic growth. 

The Rocky Mount Chamber’s Education Division, chaired by Reuben Blackwell, is working to bring awareness, support and opportunities to partner with these important initiatives.

Plans are underway to develop a dedicated education page on the Rocky Mount Area Chamber’s web site to showcase all that area educators are doing and the many positive initiatives that are taking place to better prepare our community for the future.

These initiatives are changing academic delivery methods bringing technology into the classroom, incorporating targeted specialty areas such as the academies program and apprenticeship programs, and implementing these programs with local businesses to steer educational selections toward jobs available in the area.  As a region and working together, it takes educators, businesses and organizations, our faith-based community, our community leaders and our citizens working toward building a better future that will bring prosperity and economic stability - delivering excellence in education and strategies that prepare and sustain a world class workforce for the  region.