Coastal Carolina Community College is planning a new workforce development center at Camp Davis Industrial Park to prepare skilled workers for the growing industries shaping Holly Ridge’s future.
Photography by Geanine Jamison
A part of Holly Ridge originally developed as a training ground for the U.S. Army is returning to its roots.
Once all the details are finalized, the inspections are completed and the permits have been secured, the growing area known as the Camp Davis Industrial Park will be home to a Coastal Carolina Community College workforce training facility designed to assist local businesses.
Coastal Carolina Community College (CCCC) President David L. Heatherly says, “We have, in fact, committed to having a presence there.”
The workforce development center will primarily cater to the needs of the businesses within Camp Davis. Several industries are located within the park today, and more are planning to move in over the next few years.
“Holly Ridge is the future,” says Heatherly, who has been CCCC’s president for 10 years. “A lot of folks are moving to the area.”
Current and future local businesses need skilled workers in the trades, and to determine exactly what their needs might be, Heatherly says they plan to gather a focus group.
“We’ll have to sit down with the officials, not only in Holly Ridge, but also the leadership within those industries and talk to them about what is it that they need here,” he says.
Heatherly envisions that training will be provided on a regular basis in the trades, offering OSHA certifications, forklift training and other classes and certifications to keep workers current.
In addition, he says, “We may need a facility that would enable an industry that’s coming into the area to be able to set up temporarily. Then the college would certainly be involved in providing the appropriate training for the incoming workers.”
CCCC is working with the Town of Holly Ridge to purchase Lot 14 on Betty Taylor Wood Road near Onslow Bay Boatworks and Atlantic Seafood. The lot had been purchased by UPS, which announced in February 2023 that it would establish a distribution center there. However, in May 2025 the company reversed its decision and sold the land back to the Town of Holly Ridge.
Holly Ridge Mayor Pete Parnian says the UPS change of plans “was purely a business decision due to economic conditions.”
“We negotiated with them in terms of acquiring the property back,” Parnian says. “And then we started negotiating with the college.”
Parnian says the Camp Davis Industrial Park has been built up in phases. In addition to the businesses that call Camp Davis home now, the town’s goal is to have an industrial park with 70 plus industrial units.
A project referred to as Project Ajax will develop more than 30 acres of commercial space in the next two to three years.
“We are looking forward to having the college in town,” Parnian says.
Camp Davis has been a hive of activity since 1940 when it was established by the U.S. Army. According to the Missiles and More Museum in Topsail Beach, which features an historical display of Camp Davis, the camp was important antiaircraft training center during World War II.
The museum states: “The town of Holly Ridge swelled from 28 to 110,000 people, and Camp Davis played a major role in WWII technology including the formation of WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) and the development of the early guided missile program on Topsail Island known as Operation Bumblebee.”
Prior to the establishment of Camp Davis, Holly Ridge had been a small agricultural town. Today, the town’s population is close to 6,000.
A private company acquired the Camp Davis Industrial Park property in 2004 and developed into a thriving location for small and large business with the help of Jacksonville Onslow Economic Development (JOED) leadership.
CCCC launched as the Onslow Industrial Education Center in 1967, transitioning to a community college in 1970. Short-term workforce training has continued to be in demand at the school over the years.
Current CCCC workforce training includes offerings in a variety of fields. Trades and technical programs include automotive, building construction, truck driver training (CDL), marine and welding courses. The college offers workforce training for critical industry positions such as powerline technician, pharmacy technician, emergency medical technician and construction and safety positions.
CCCC Workforce Training and Continuing Education courses are held on campus, at various off-campus sites throughout Onslow County and online.
However, building a new facility is not a simple process for a community college.
“There are a number of pieces to it, not to mention that once we start construction, we have to involve what’s called the State Construction Office, and that’s an added layer,” Heatherly says.
He adds that if a private business wants to build something, “their inspection processes and the specific plans hinge on the local municipality.”
“For example,” he says, “if a private owner wants to build something here in Jacksonville, then they have to meet the regulations and standards set by Jacksonville. We have to do that, too, but we also have to meet the standards of the state.”
That added layer, he says, “is a little bit more time consuming.”
Even though UPS went through an inspection and permitting process when planning its distribution center, Heatherly says it has been several years since those were completed so everything has to be done again for the new CCCC workforce development center.
“It has been quite some time, and all of that has to be done within two years,” Heatherly says. “So, when you do wetlands delineation, for example, that can change over time. … That’s why they want it to be current.”
The CCCC workforce development center will be located on approximately 13 acres at the end of Betty Taylor Wood Road. The college is also looking at the possibility of acquiring Lot 13.
“It just depends on how large a piece of property we think we need in order to accommodate that area,” Heatherly says. “I think it’ll be great and it’ll meet the needs of that park.”
TRADE UP!
Coastal Carolina Community College
444 Western Boulevard, Jacksonville
(910) 455-1221
coastalcarolina.edu
