60 for 60: Durham Tech was first U.S. community college to lead Japanese-American project

In celebration of Durham Technical Community College’s 60th anniversary, the College is publishing 60 for 60 – a storytelling campaign that highlights the people, places, and events that have progressed and shaped the College’s six decades of impact. To view more 60 for 60 stories, visit www.durhamtech.edu/60for60.   

Due to the strong U.S. economy in the 1980s, the presence of Japanese businesses boomed throughout the country, including more than 40 new or relocated Japanese facilities in North Carolina alone.   

In 1987, an independent federal agency, Japan-United States Friendship Commission approved a $22,891 grant for Durham Technical Community College to lead a new project of lectures called “Instruction to the American Production Worker in a Japanese Factory.” 

The North Carolina Department of Community Colleges (now North Carolina Community Colleges System Office) and the Japan Center at North Carolina State University also funded $41,791 to support this project.  

The purpose was to introduce American workers to Japanese culture since many Japanese businesses were relocating to Durham – preparing individuals for management practices and the work environment within Japanese-owned businesses.  

In a 1987 Durham Tech newsletter, Calvin Gillie, former Director of Continuing Education at Durham Tech, said the Friendship Commission was impressed with Durham Tech’s experience in working with Japanese companies and they wanted to replicate that atmosphere in other parts of the country.   

“Durham Tech has been singled out as the only community college in the United States to develop a training program that would be replicated in all Japanese factories across the U.S.,” said Gillie.    

One year later, Gillie and staff from the Japan Center at NCSU traveled to Japan to research Japanese culture and began writing the lecture series. 

In March 1989, a training manual was published to assist with improving working relations between Japanese managers and American workers. 

The lectures were written and developed by Gillie, with assistance from professors from the University of North Carolina System, who were each Japan Fellows from the N.C. Japan Center. 

Once publicized, the manual was made available to colleges and factories throughout the United States. 

For more information, contact Desiree Towson, M.S., Communications and Public Relations Coordinator, at allisontowsond@durhamtech.edu