SANFORD — Central Carolina Community College has announced the hiring of Cindy Casler as its Workforce Development Director within its Economic & Community Development Division. 

Casler came to Central Carolina C.C. from Clinton College, Plattsburgh, N.Y., where she was Workforce Development Education & Training coordinator for more than seven years. Prior to that, she served 18 years with the New York Workforce Investment Board, serving last as the Workforce Development Project Coordinator. In both positions, she oversaw workforce training for youth and adults, both employed and unemployed.

Casler continues this work as CCCC’s Workforce Development Director. Her department collaborates with the other departments in the ECDD to provide comprehensive workforce training in the college’s service area of Chatham, Harnett, and Lee counties. 

Her responsibilities also include serving as the local administrator for the federal Workforce Investment Act. Central Carolina C.C. is the administrative entity for local WIA funds, the first North Carolina community college to have this responsibility. 

As WIA administrator, Casler oversees the implementation of the workforce development plans for Chatham, Harnett, Lee and Sampson counties. This includes working closely with the Mid-Carolina Workforce Development Board, elected officials, and community agencies such as employment security commissions and JobLink. She has responsibility for the financial management, monitoring, and evaluation of workforce investment programs.

“Workforce development is a passion for me,” Casler said. “The goal of the WIA is to get individuals into self-sustainable employment so they have health care, benefits, and an increased quality of life. Our mission in the ECD Division is the same: to ensure that the residents of the counties we serve are provided all the services and educational training they need to obtain employment with a livable wage.”  

Casler, a native of Wilmington, N.Y., said she identifies with those receiving workforce training because she went back to college as a single mother with two children. She earned an associate degree from Clinton and a Bachelor of Arts in Workforce Administration, with minors in Human Resources Management and Supply Chain Management, from State University of New York-Plattsburgh.

Casler is excited about her new position.

“It combines my education, work experience, what I wanted to do, and where I wanted to live,” she said. “The college is exciting. There are so many different programs offered and wonderful opportunities for residents to receive workforce training. It’s great.”