CREDIT UNION MEETING AND BANQUET – Dr. Betty Adams, executive director of the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center (HEC), was the featured speaker at the 28th annual meeting and banquet of the Halifax County Community Credit Union. Adams spoke of her return to Halifax County from North Carolina and plans for the HEC. Shown from left are credit union officers and board members Freddie Jeffress Jr., vice-chairman; Helen Leigh, customer service manager; Morris Bryant, membership officer; Rosetta Sydnor-Jackson, secretary; Adams; Dennis Stewart, educational officer; William E. Coleman, president/CEO; and J. Aubrey Houghton, board chairman. Not shown is Pamela Garland, treasurer. (GV Photo/Sonny Riddle) SVHEC Programs Touted At Credit Union Banquet
“I stand before you, a very lucky lady,” said Dr. Betty Adams, executive director of the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center (HEC) to those gathered for the Halifax County Community Credit Union 28th annual meeting and banquet Friday night at the Leggett Auditorium in Halifax Regional Hospital.
Adams, who assumed her duties at the HEC in January, spoke of her strong country roots. She said she was born and raised in South Boston, but her grandparents on both sides were farmers in the Alton community, which allowed her to spend much of her youth in the country.
The new HEC director related her fond memories growing up in South Boston, including learning to read at the South Boston Library, learning to swim at the Vaughan Street pool, attending kindergarten at First Presbyterian Church and riding the escalators at Leggett Department Store. She said she also remembered walking downtown to Faulkner and Lawson’s for banana splits and walking to school at C.H. Friend.
Adams said even though her family did not have a lot of money, there was no question she would attend college after high school. “They helped me fill out the applications, but I had to pay my way,” she said.
She graduated from Radford in 1981 and followed a job she held in college to North Carolina. Adams said she worked her way up, earning an MBA from East Carolina University and a doctorate in education from North Carolina State University.
Adams worked for the past 15 years with the North Carolina Community College System and was promoted in July to work with the community college system’s president. She said a family emergency brought her back to South Boston in September, where she learned of the position at the HEC.
“I looked it up online and was very impressed,” she said. “I emailed a resume, and the rest is history.”
Adams spoke of the unique take on education offered through the HEC, which offers GED through PhD. “We are brokers of education,” she said. “We provide the environment—the technology, facility and support staff—in which educational partners offer programs.”
Adams said the HEC now boasts of more than 12 partners with close to 40 different programs through public schools, community colleges and universities within Virginia and also outside the state.
She told of the HEC’s humble beginnings, established in 1986 in a used trailer behind Halifax County High School as the Halifax-South Boston Continuing Education Center, eventually moving to the old Lowe’s building on Old Halifax Road.
Adams said when the state would not build a college here, the Halifax Educational Foundation “took matters into their own hands.” Through a bond referendum, private fundraising and grants, the current facility was established.
“No state funds were used to renovate and equip the building,” she said.
A 2006 State Council of Higher Education needs assessment determined demand was insufficient for a public four-year college in Southside Virginia, the culture of college attendance did not exist, and educational attainment levels were low, she said.
The assessment also said higher educational institutions in the area should reach out to K-12 to begin fostering a college-going culture, Adams said. Regional economic development could be strengthened by introducing new higher education degrees that capitalize on local assets.
Adams also told of the HEC’s newest venture, the Innovation Center. The old bag factory was donated by the Harris family and is being renovated using approximately $11 million in combined funds from Tobacco Commission Grant and historical tax credits.
The center will be home to two separate, but related and co-mingled programs, Adams said. The first, Advanced Manufacturing, will feature product development and design, and the second is Digital Art and Design.
“Students start out together to learn fundamental skills required in the new economy,” Adams explained. “These include digital, communication, creative, and collaborative skills.
“They come back together to work on cross-collaborative projects—real-world projects that support local needs and interests,” she said. “The concept was developed after 18 months of study and site visits to schools, colleges and community centers across the country.”
Adams said a two-plus-two-plus-two educational pathway would be established, with high school dual enrollment plus associate degree plus bachelor’s degree.
Adams said programs such as these make sense. They utilize the younger generation’s predisposition for the Internet, digital technology and communication to get and keep them in the educational pipeline. She also said there is a real need for workers skilled in advanced manufacturing, and these jobs cannot be shipped overseas.
These programs also will allow students to develop skills that are transferable and flexible that will allow them to transform themselves as workers as the economy continues to change.
“These programs will provide good jobs and opportunities that will keep our young people here and not force them to leave for greener pastures,” Adams concluded.
In the business part of Friday’s meeting, the credit union reported to its members total assets of $8,824,772.
Treasurer Pamela Garland discussed the credit union’s 3.2 percent annual growth in membership. There currently are 4,701 active credit union members, compared with 4,559 in 2008 and 4,415 in 2007.
Total amount of loans for 2009 is $15,934,724, as compared with $15,294,696 in 2008 and $14,594,511 in 2007. Annual growth in loans to members is 3.9 percent, annual growth in dollars loaned to members is 4.2 percent, and annual growth in reserves and net earnings is 1.5 percent.
