Central Arizona College has been selected as a 2022 Workforce Development category finalist for the highly coveted Bellwether Award.

As a finalist in this category, CAC will compete with nine other community colleges during a rigorous second and final round of peer review at the 2022 Community Colleges Futures Assembly Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2022.

CAC’s innovative project titled Education at the Speed of Industry, highlighting the institution's partnership with Wilson Electric, is recognized for creating strategic alliances that promote community and economic development.

In December 2018, Wilson Electric approached CAC to explore a partnership in developing a commercial electrical installation program, mirroring the college’s partnership with Sundt Construction. The partnership with Sundt Construction led to a 2020 Bellwether Award win for CAC.

The Bellwether Awards are widely regarded as the nation’s most competitive and prestigious recognition for community colleges and the only award evaluated by experts and practitioners in the field. In its 28 years of celebrating community colleges, the Bellwether College Consortium is proud to identify outstanding and innovative programs or practices which can then be shared and replicated.

The Bellwether Award is sponsored by the Alamo Colleges District in San Antonio, Texas.

About CAC

For more than 50 years, Central Arizona College has been serving and educating the diverse communities of Pinal County. With five campuses and one center located strategically throughout the county, CAC provides accessible, educational, economic, cultural, and personal growth opportunities for those of all ages. Go to centralaz.edu.

About Bellwether College Consortium

The Bellwether College Consortium is a group of colleges charged with addressing the critical issues facing community colleges through applicable research and the promotion and replication of best practices addressing workforce development, instructional programs and services, and planning, governance, and finance.

Editor’s note: Angela Askey is CAC’s executive director of public relations and marketing.