Iredell Ready Workforce Forum Highlights Educational Progress and How Artificial Intelligence Is Accelerating the Need for Workforce Development Strategies

 Iredell Ready Achievements: • Economic Growth: Iredell County has seen a 35% increase in the average wage from 2018 to 2023. • Educational Attainment: The high school graduation rate has increased from 90% in 2021 to 91% in 2023. The percentage of residents with a degree or credential has risen from 51.4% to 54.5%. • Student Credentials: Credentials earned by high school students have increased from 1,200 to 5,663. • Enrollment Growth: Annual student enrollment at Mitchell Community College (MCC) has increased year over year, with a 9% to 15% increase in the Spring of 2025, outpacing the state average of 5%. • Postsecondary Plans: More than 70% of high school graduates plan to enroll in a postsecondary institution.

Iredell Ready focuses on building pathways to better futures through increased industry engagement and collaboration with K-12 initiatives. The program was launched by a partnership called the Iredell Industry & Education Alliance. At the forum, Iredell Ready announced a collaboration with myFutureNC and The Hunt Institute to further educational attainment goals. Additionally, Iredell Ready launched a Corporate Partners Investment opportunity to engage industry in driving strategic workforce priorities.

myFutureNC Overview: myFutureNC presented the State of Educational Attainment in North Carolina and Iredell County progress towards the goal of having 2 million North Carolinians aged 25-44 with high-quality credentials or postsecondary degrees by 2030. Key points from myFutureNC’s presentation include:
• Statewide Progress: Since the establishment of myFutureNC, the number of residents aged 25-44 holding a degree or credential has increased from 1,450,249 in 2019 to 1,664,892 in 2023, representing a 15% growth.• Attainment Goal: The target is to reach 2 million by 2030, with a current shortfall of 13,279 individuals.• County Progress: 79 out of 100 counties have increased their attainment rates since 2019, with Iredell County showing a 3.1 percentage point increase from 51.4% in 2019 to 54.5% in 2023.• New Standardized Language for the State of Educational Attainment: myFutureNC revealed a new standardized language to measure the state of educational attainment across all 100 North Carolina counties with a goal to ensure that every county sets a local attainment goal, creates a plan, and executes it to increase educational attainment.• Iredell is Attainment Ready: Iredell County has achieved the status of “Attainment Ready”, along with 8 other counties across the state to achieve this level. The county's efforts in fostering cross-sector collaboration and building comprehensive plans are aligned with the broader state goals.