60 for 60: Research Triangle Park brought a need for more trained talent
In celebration of Durham Technical Community College’s 60th anniversary, the College is publishing 60 for 60 – a storytelling campaign that highlights the people, places, and events that have progressed and shaped the College’s six decades of impact. To view more 60 for 60 stories, visit www.durhamtech.edu/60for60.
Following World War II, North Carolina leaders looked for direction in a changing economic landscape given the transition from agriculture and the need for new investment in the fading local state economy.
Together with state leaders, Robert Hanes, president of Wachovia Bank and Trust Company, and Romeo Guest, a Greensboro contractor, envisioned a large investment into a research and development park between the major research universities of Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University.
Research Triangle Park - North Carolina History Project
That vision, the Research Triangle Park (RTP), is the hub of some of the state’s largest companies and is an economic driver for information technology headquarters, biopharmaceutical giants, and global communications firms. In addition to research and development, RTP also has strong talent pipelines to local colleges and universities for workforce needs.
As the plans were coming together for RTP, the North Carolina General Assembly authorized a small appropriation to establish a limited number of area schools to be known as Industrial Education Centers. The Assembly’s appropriation challenge went out to various county school administrative units in the state to provide separate educational facilities that would educate the needs for a whole area’s population.
Durham was among the first six counties in the state to meet this challenge to the satisfaction of the State officials.
Through the years, Durham Tech partnered with companies in the park to provide talent for information technology, health care, manufacturing, and biotechnology. The College also taught Clinical Trials Research Associate courses to incoming RTP employees who needed a quick orientation to pharma companies. In recent years, the College has worked directly with businesses through customized training projects, which oftentimes send Durham Tech instructors to the businesses themselves for communication or leadership training. In 2020, the College served more than 1,000 individuals through 
customized training projects, many of which were associated with RTP businesses.
In 2021, the College opened a new space for corporate education services – Durham Tech at RTP -- at the Frontier Building near N.C. 54 and Interstate 40. Research Triangle Park now has 324 companies listed within RTP. Since 2020, the Triangle has seen nearly 11,000 new job openings, many of which are tied to expansion projects and industries in RTP, according to the Triangle Business Journal.
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For more information, contact Desiree Towson, M.S., Communications and Public Relations Coordinator, at allisontowsond@durhamtech.edu.