Digital Hub = renewed DuBois, Northeast and area?

Tuesday night the staff at the Wireless Research Center of North Carolina came to the Wake Forest Town Board with a request that could revitalize the decaying DuBois School campus, provide training for young and older Northeast and other area residents, and move across the state, replicating the effort.

The four board members – Mayor Vivian Jones and Commissioner Chad Sary were absent – complained that they had only had the information about the request with the full funding breakdown and contract for an hour or so.

However, after lengthy explanations and discussion, the four voted to approve a resolution backing the Digital Workforce Hub on the school campus, pledging $1 million to the Wireless Center for the hub and $200,000 to the center “to support campus upfits.” Town Manager Kip Padgett and Chief Financial Officer Aileen Staples will revise and edit the contract to accomplish the town board’s goals and objectives in granting the funds.

The resolution says “the Digital workforce Hub training will create skilled employees and build a more productive economy.”

Now, the town will not be alone. At the same time Wireless Center staff is seeking $3.38 million from Wake County that would go to the Wireless Center and $2.5 million that would go to the DuBois Alumni Association to pay for upfits to the campus.

Those upfits would include renovations to the gymnasium, repaving the parking lot in front and perhaps some work at the ag/shop building which was renovated about 20 years ago.

Town attorney Eric Vernon went to the podium to explain the urgency of the vote – deadlines for grant applications that must be met – and that it could fall through without Wake County’s participation. “They have to get the county money before you will be obligated to pay out any of the town’s money.”

Commissioner Jim Dyer said, “We took a chance on this organization before and it’s been very successful.” The Wireless Center, a private nonprofit begun 10 years ago with a grant from the Town of Wake Forest and led by now CEO Gerard Hayes, has become a leader in the field of wireless communication.

What will the hub do? The months left in 2021 will be spent doing the physical part, renovating the campus. In the first half of 2022 the Wireless Center will begin setting up and operating the hub.

Why the old DuBois School site? “We have a really strong bond with the (Northeast) community,” Hayes said. “This will be the first in the nation. We take to take the message from the town and broadcast it” across the state and nation.

The goals? First to deploy the first North Carolina High Speed Innovation Hub on the DuBois campus serving the immediate and surrounding neighborhoods.

Also, directly impact hundreds of households and thousands of lives in Wake Forest and surrounding areas spurring economic growth, equity and opportunity.

The center says there are 7 million digital jobs which are not filled because there is no one trained to do the work. The hub plans to take workers of any skill level, evaluate them, train them and help them find jobs. The new workers can also join an organization called the trade center for one year for free that offers affordable health care options, workshops to continue to build skills and training for potential entrepreneurs.

Within 10 years, the objective is to provide a digital workforce, train local businesses to become more efficient in the digital marketplace, generate $653,768,900 in new wages, 55 new businesses, add 11 percent or 4,615 new workers and have the hub self-funded through membership and health care enrollment.

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