Replacing a worn-out help-wanted sign won’t break his business, but the cause of the wear and tear troubles Coeur d’Alene manufacturer Ron Nilson.

Last year, Nilson and other business people in Coeur d’Alene went public with their lack of confidence in Michael Burke, then president of North Idaho College. The two-year school, they felt, was not doing enough to provide work-force training for a bustling economy where jobs are hard to fill.

Without a reliable stream of skilled workers from NIC, Nilson’s business resorted to other means, such as posting a sign that now needs to be redone because of overuse.

NIC has reason to see things a little differently. It has an enviable record at placing graduates of its degree programs in jobs within their fields. And as a community college, it must serve other education needs, too. Granting two-year allied-arts degrees, for example, or preparing students to go on to four-year schools for baccalaureate studies.

It’s a demanding to-do list under perennial budget constraints that are compounded by a bittersweet reality: When jobs are abundant, many young people don’t see the need to go to college.

Burke has departed for a position in California and NIC is now looking for “a dynamic and visionary leader who is committed to the academic, vocational, and workforce training needs of this rapidly growing area.” It must be someone who can communicate, collaborate and forge community partnerships. In other words, someone who could meet the daunting challenge of fulfilling NIC’s comprehensive mission while keeping the business community happy.

The tension between the school and the business people is unhealthy, but there’s encouraging news. About 20 key business people, plus the mayors of Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene, have formed Partners in Education and are helping Interim President Priscilla Bell and other NIC leaders map out a plan for the school’s future.

That’s a good step, but caution is in order on both sides. Nilson says past assurances of cooperation have turned into lip service. Bell appreciates the business figures’ commitment to the school and community, but she needs to hear specifics about their long-term training needs, and she’s not going to make promises she can’t keep. Nilson likes what he’s seen from Bell so far and thinks she’s going to be Burke’s successor. But he’s not ready to issue a “scorecard.”

One promising opportunity involves expanded use of certificate programs, which impart specific skills such as welding without wrapping them in degree programs. For a lot of workers, Nilson feels, that’s enough. They don’t need a foreign language or even English, they need a marketable skill.

Educators like Bell, however, wisely recognize the value – to the community, the economy and the individual – of a more comprehensive education.

North Idaho’s economy is robust at present, but that probably won’t last. A good community college has to perform through both the ups and downs, and that will demand a positive relationship with the business community as well as the public at large. The Partners in Education initiative will be a positive contribution if it’s conducted in earnest and with commitment on both sides. That’s the kind of help wanted by the community.