The Connect NC Bond is a $2 billion statewide bond package that will be on ballot in North Carolina on March 15, 2016. The bond includes $980 million for UNC campus projects, including $30 million in significant funding toward the construction and design of a new School of Business for North Carolina Central University over a three to four year period, replacing a building that was constructed in 1956. The C. T. Willis Building was refurbished in early the 2000s, but still lacks critical facilities necessary to effectively support today’s collaborative instruction and research methods.
Development of a state-of-the-art Financial Trading Room and Entrepreneurship Center would provide new opportunities for students to engage in a high-touch, interactive and innovative learning environment and would also indirectly help NCCU attract top-quality faculty and academic professionals by expanding collaborative teaching and learning initiatives aimed at raising the university’s student retention and graduation rates.
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The new School of Business is estimated to deliver a $12.3 million incremental income boost to the state of North Carolina by expanding workforce productivity and improving skills training for workers. This benefit is in addition to the $563.7 million regional income the university currently delivers to five counties in the central region of the state. It is also estimated that the new School would generate approximately $2.5 million in business start-up impact and create nearly 475 new jobs. Programs offered through the School of Business address some of the state’s largest and fastest growing industries. For example, the Hospitality and Tourism program trains professionals for the growing tourism industry, which provides more than $19.4 billion in annual revenue to North Carolina.
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