Grant-backed expansion A-B Tech secured a $29.2 million federal grant from the U.S. EDA for the WNC Futures Factory, signaling bold capacity-building plans and opportunities to pitch vendor solutions, project management, and workforce training partnerships aligned with manufacturing and innovation.

Manufacturing focus The upcoming 70,000-square-foot advanced manufacturing workforce and innovation hub presents a prime opportunity to offer industrial technology, automation, analytics, and classroom-to-factory digital integration solutions.

Regional scale As the largest higher education institution in Western NC with multiple campuses and a 23,000+ annual student reach, there is potential for enterprise-wide digital transformation, data analytics, and marketing automation services across campuses.

Culinary excellence Award-winning Culinary program and national silver medal achievements indicate opportunities to provide culinary tech, POS and kitchen management systems, reservation/feedback platforms, or e-commerce solutions for program growth and industry partnerships.

Tech-enabled operations Current tech stack includes Power BI, Tableau, AWS, Azure, and marketing tools, suggesting a readiness for advanced analytics, cloud modernization, data governance, and integration services to optimize student outcomes and institutional efficiency.