‘A critical leader’: North Carolina Community College System hires John Loyack as new VP of Economic Development

The North Carolina Community College System hired new Vice President of Economic Development, John Loyack, the former VP of Global Business Services with the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC). 

He is responsible for overseeing business and workforce divisions within the System, including ApprenticeshipNC, NCEdge (customized training), the Small Business Center Network, and BioNetwork.

“I’ve been a fan of the community college system for a long time. While at EDPNC, I had direct interaction with the System on almost a daily basis, so I was aware of what an important part community colleges played in the economic development community,” he said. “Seeing what was going on at the 58 campuses across the state made this a really exciting opportunity, but also having the ability to continue to interact directly with the business community is very fulfilling.”

The Economic Development division’s top priority aligns with System President Dr. Jeff Cox’s first-year goal to, “Scale system capacity and responsiveness to statewide workforce development needs by creating a framework where growing workforce development needs are met for both the large-scale corporate developments and small business needs within communities.”

“From my first day, I have been focused on how this division can better serve the needs of businesses across the state. In addition to being a dedicated partner to industry, I want to help our different divisions by introducing new efficiencies and use technology to improve or performance. I also want to shine a brighter light on BioNetwork, NCEdge, ApprenticeshipNC, and the Small Business Center Network. These are all amazing resources, but not enough businesses know about them. My goal is to shift us away from being the best-kept secret and to become the best told story,” Loyack said.

Cox said Loyack will be a critical leader in this role.

“John Loyack comes to our North Carolina Community College System leadership team with a wealth of experience and credibility from his deep experience in economic development across the entire state,” Cox said. “I have no doubt he will add value immediately and will be a critical leader in economic development in our state from his new position as Vice President of Economic Development.” 

Loyack was part of the team that built EDPNC from the ground up in October 2014. Prior to that, he was the Director of International Trade at the North Carolina Department of Commerce. He joined the System on June 12.