Facts That Matter Blog
Facts That Matter Blog

Student Thoughts on Student Success
If you’re a student today, it’s easy to feel like every academic term brings a new, history-making event. But COVID is in its own category. The pandemic has upended the educational landscape in huge and novel ways. The ncIMPACT Initiative team recently took some time to speak directly with students about the changing nature of school and youth engagement, and to learn more about the path they see ahead.
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Community Guide by Opioid Response Project
The Community Guide produced by the Opioid Response Project is available to assist communities interested in pursuing a similar process for addressing “wicked” problems using a collective impact model. While the Opioid Response Project is used as an example throughout this guide, the process, resources, worksheets, and lessons provided could be used to address any number of complex, inter-jurisdictional problems.
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Economic Recovery from the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Fayetteville Region
Early on in the pandemic, the City of Fayetteville recognized the impact that COVID related conditions would have on small businesses. Many would have to close their doors without income or employees. To combat these challenges, the City’s economic and community development department partnered with local organizations to set up a microloan program targeting small businesses.
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Where are the Workers?
Coming off a busy holiday season, it’s probably clearer to many of us just how strained the American labor market is right now. Maybe you had to wait in a long line to check out while doing your Christmas shopping, or some of the ingredients for your Thanksgiving meal weren’t available on the shelf at the local grocery store. Maybe a friend wasn’t able to attend a holiday party due to a flight cancellation because of limited crew, or some packages were late to arrive on your doorstep. In each case, we can point to a tight labor market that’s yielded fewer workers where we need them, and disrupted the normal flow of goods and services to which we have become accustomed.
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How Social Capital Can Improve Job Opportunities
Focusing on social capital’s impact on job acquisition may reshape the current way nonprofits and local governments approach employment assistance. By refocusing the problem not just on how to connect job seekers and potential employers, organizations can instead look to build relationships that will open doors for employment today and in the future.
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Local Sustainability Goals in the Asheville Region
Local governments across North Carolina adopt resolutions committing to measures of sustainability and reducing carbon emissions, but western North Carolina often leads the way. Watch our PBS NC ncIMPACT Town Hall series episode on this topic by clicking the link at the end of the blog.
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Ensuring Student Success in 2021 and Beyond
North Carolina lawmakers set a goal of 2 million North Carolinians with a post-secondary degree or credential by 2030. Achieving this goal will keep the state economically competitive with an educated workforce, as well as improve economic outcomes for those with a credential. Education institutions, workforce development boards, and employers are implementing programs designed to help the state achieve this goal. Watch our PBS NC ncIMPACT Town Hall series episode on this topic by clicking the link at the end of the blog.
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Learn from What’s Working: National Scan of Post-Secondary Attainment Practices
The bipartisan HB664 was signed into law in 2019 to set an official goal of 2 million residents ages 25 to 44 with a postsecondary degree or credential by 2030. To support this goal, the ncIMPACT Initiative produced a National Scan of Postsecondary Attainment Practices because replicating and adapting innovative and effective practices from other communities provides a way to “flatten the learning curve” and accelerate progress.
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Economic Recovery From COVID: Legislative Testimony In Brief
Since March of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to radically remake the economic landscape of North Carolina and beyond. While local governments work to rebuild, rework, and retool existing systems and services to meet this new environment, state leaders in North Carolina are seeking to learn from the lessons of the pandemic as they chart a course for the future.
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Questions of Equity in Social Capital
Left unattended, social capital or the lack thereof has the ability to reproduce existing inequities. It also points to the importance of addressing the systemic problems that have created these inequities. However, if social capital investments are managed correctly, they can promote equity and address historic and systemic barriers to accessing social capital.
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