By Mike Barton
Public Affairs Specialist

Naval Air Depot Cherry Point has recently been named to receive North Carolina’s highest employer award in a ceremony late this month.

Governor Mike Easley named the depot as an “Outstanding Employer” in the 2004 Governor’s Award for Excellence in Workforce Development. JoAnn Tadlock, NADEP Human Resources department head, is slated to accept the award for the depot during an awards banquet Oct. 28 at the Greensboro Sheraton Four Seasons Hotel.

The depot’s selection was based largely on its proactive hiring practices, and the initial, recurring and advanced training that it provides to its more than 4,200 employees.

NADEP’s nomination for this award listed numerous areas where the depot excels in employee development. This includes its aggressive wage grade development training programs targeted at recruiting a young, motivated work force, reducing attrition, revitalizing the existing aging work force, and implementing strategies to capture the knowledge passed down through generations of artisans.

Also highlighted was the depot’s partnership with eight local community colleges to implement the Student Career Experience Program, an “earn as you learn” program for 30 different trade skills, leading eventually to the apprentice program.

Further credit was given for the depot’s partnership with local and state leaders that resulted in the establishment of the Institute of Aeronautical Technology. The IAT will provide a source of skilled aviation maintenance technicians, as well as “an opportunity for residents of the region to be trained locally in a very competitive and high demand area of employment.”

Recognition was also given for the aggressive recruitment of young men and women of all ethnic groups throughout regional high schools and community colleges, as well as local business, community, religious and civic organizations.

In all, more than 18 programs were listed that are available in a proactive work force recruiting and development program that combines “the experience of the ‘graybeards’ and the knowledge of a new generation of workers with strategies to retain and develop the right people in the right places.”

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