Cone Health Honored for Workforce Partnership with Alamance Community College

Alamance Community College recognized Cone Health as its 2025 Business Partner of the Year at the college’s Annual Public Officials Breakfast on December 3, with the announcement issued December 4. The award acknowledges what ACC described as a sustained, exceptional partnership that supports the college mission and directly benefits students and the county workforce.

Cone Health’s involvement with ACC spans governance, curriculum advising, hands on training, recruitment, hiring, scholarships, and philanthropic investment. The health system has served in senior leadership roles on ACC boards and participated on advisory committees for five curricular programs. Cone Health created apprenticeships, provided more than ten work based learning sites, hosted targeted recruiting fairs for programs such as Culinary Arts and Medical Laboratory Technology, and has hired thousands of ACC graduates over multiple decades.

Financial and philanthropic commitments were a central part of ACC’s rationale for the award. Cone Health has provided scholarship support across seven ACC programs and contributed more than two million dollars in philanthropic support. The health system also invested in ACC’s Biotechnology Center of Excellence campaign and established two major endowments tied to that initiative. ACC framed those investments as strengthening training capacity for local biotechnology and allied health occupations.

For residents of Graham and Alamance County the partnership has direct implications. Expanded apprenticeships and work based learning sites increase practical training available to students, creating clearer pathways to employment after graduation. Scholarship support and endowed funds reduce financial barriers for program enrollees, while Cone Health hiring patterns affect local labor market dynamics and the supply of trained professionals for health care and related industries.

The recognition at a public officials breakfast underscores the intersection of higher education, economic development, and local governance. ACC positioned the award within a history of prior recipients and described the college as a major local higher education and workforce partner. As Alamance County policymakers and voters weigh priorities for workforce development, infrastructure, and educational funding, the ACC Cone Health partnership illustrates how institutional collaboration can shape program offerings, labor pipelines, and community economic outcomes.