Guest column: The proposal to develop Missouri's 13th community college

Community colleges provide a wide range of technical program offerings and are a vital component to helping students achieve their individual potential while developing the skills needed to have a prosperous career. In addition, the development of a trained and able workforce resulting from a community college education is a proven economic driver offering long-term sustainability and economic development.

Multiple studies demonstrate data to prove communities that develop robust and proactive programs of academic and technical support -- tied to expected learning outcomes -- engage students and support workforce needs. Community colleges help students become active participants in their own quest for educational and career success while maintaining residence within their local communities.

The Committee for Affordable Technical Education and subsequent steering committee, supported by local employers and state leadership and with participation from local and regional postsecondary educational centers, is moving forward with a proposal to create the 13th community college in Missouri -- its locations in Cape Girardeau and Perryville.

The committee is strictly following the Missouri state statute as is currently written to create the 13th community college. This extensive process also involves working with all partners in education and the workforce to analyze and review every viable alternative strategy to create opportunities for individuals to gain technical experience in this local workforce.

The next step in the process is to conduct a needs analysis through an independent reviewer. Most recently, the Department of Higher Education accepted the letter of intent presented by the steering committee.

The Cape Girardeau and Perry County area has the infrastructure in place to develop and support this endeavor. Workforce leaders are engaged. Elected officials offer their support. Leaders representing our secondary schools, postsecondary centers and our four-year institution are working alongside the steering committee to offer solutions, road maps to success and guidance in each step of the application process. The development of the 13th community college in Cape Girardeau and Perryville will offer the final link in our region's ability to offer a complete educational system for all -- with greater access, undeniable affordability and sustainable economic development strategies.

This movement is about access -- providing technical education opportunities for our youth, our workforce, our future employers. Local, proven technical education that is right here at home.

This movement is about the ability to use the financial incentives offered through the A+ and Fast Track programs, providing local opportunities for students leaving secondary education to utilize higher education funding incentives they worked so hard to achieve during their secondary years.

This movement is about affordability -- providing technical education that is affordable to help our rural and more impoverished communities have access to sustainable career opportunities within the local economy.

This movement is about economic development -- providing a long-term, sustainable and proven fuel source to bolster the local economies that will support existing workforce needs and provide growth opportunities for new enterprises due to the availability of a qualified, trained and local workforce. It allows the Cape Girardeau/Perryville region to expand the workforce network, pulling from small, rural communities to entice graduating students to embrace their higher education and career possibilities in this market.

In the Cape Girardeau/Perryville areas, the data reflects our workforce is declining. Individuals graduating from secondary education looking for opportunities in the technical career path are leaving our area to utilize A+ and Fast Track funding incentives with technical institutions offered in other markets around the state, therefore moving away from our community and decreasing the availability of a highly skilled and trained local workforce.

The return on investment is real -- enhanced affordable local opportunities for student development; highly trained and skilled workforce for employers; expanded tax base for all taxpayers; potential for reduced demand for social services due to a lifetime of higher incomes resulting from one's technical education; and a community college that is also a buyer of goods and services with additional sustainable job creation within.

The long-term road map to understanding the return on investment from the development of the 13th community college in Cape Girardeau/Perryville is a more skilled and educated and higher wage workforce proven to improve health, reduce crime and cut unemployment.

Rich Payne is chairman of the Committee for Affordable Technical Education.