An A-B Tech employee and business partner were among statewide excellence award winners announced March 25 by the NC Community College System. Heather Pack, A-B Tech's Director of Student Support Services, was named Staff Member of the Year and NCEdge Customized Training partner Pratt & Whitney was named Business of the Year for large employers in the Workforce Development Pinnacle Awards category. The awards will be presented at the NCCCS State Board Pinnacle Awards Ceremony in Raleigh on April 15.
"We are honored that A-B Tech received special recognition from the NC Community College System," said A-B Tech President John Gossett. "We are beyond proud of Heather Pack. I have never worked with a person who cares more about our students and employees – she is an outstanding example of who we are and what we do. I'm also grateful that our valued partnership with Pratt & Whitney has been recognized. It is a testament to the work our Advanced Manufacturing Center does with customized training for area manufacturers. And as our largest project to date, it has helped lay the groundwork for the proposed Futures Factory at Biltmore Park West."
Staff Person of the Year Award Winner: Heather Pack, Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College
This award acknowledges non-teaching staff members who exemplify exceptional performance and dedication to the community college mission. This year, it goes to Heather Pack, A-B Tech's Director of Student Support Services, ADA Coordinator and Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor. In recent years, Pack has led A-B Tech through the opioid epidemic, Covid pandemic, and Hurricane Helene aftermath, helping students and employees navigate the impacts.
Pack has spent years systematically closing gaps in mental health access on campus, and well beyond it. She built the infrastructure that makes care continuous: 24/7 virtual counseling through TalkCampus, the Reset Recovery Room, and mobile wellness spaces that bring support directly to students in crisis and in everyday need. She pioneered T-STEP autism supports, veteran-focused initiatives, and universal design practices that have reshaped how A-B Tech approaches student well-being. Her influence extends to the State Board’s Disability Services Advisory Board and NC AHEAD, where her expertise shapes policy and practice for the entire System.
Business of the Year (>500 Employees): Pratt & Whitney with Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College
Pratt & Whitney has been named Business of the Year for its landmark NCEdge Customized Training collaboration with A-B Tech — the largest economic development project in the history of Western North Carolina.
When Pratt & Whitney announced a $650 million investment in 2020 to build a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Asheville, the company made A-B Tech a partner from day one. The result is a deliberate, deeply integrated pipeline aligned to fill 800 high-wage positions with workers prepared for the precision demands of advanced aerospace manufacturing. That alignment — from earliest recruitment through curriculum design and training delivery — is what makes this partnership a model for how industry and higher education can build the future workforce together.