CityView Magazine

16 Januar y 2023 From farm boy to college president As Mark Sorrells takes over leadership of Fayetteville Technical Community College, he is confident that the lessons of his upbringing will mean he's up to the job BY MICHAEL FUTCH FEATURE B orn and raised in the farming and logging community of Jonathan Creek Township, about 15 miles north of Maggie Valley, Mark Sorrells learned the value of hard work at an early age thanks to his elders. "I grew up on a farm and grew up in a family business. So, I grew up working and being part of the family operation on the farm with my grandfather," Sorrells says. "Tobacco, cattle and tomatoes — that was the role. When I was 7 years of age, that gentleman walked me out back with my brother and said, 'Boys, there's an acre of tobacco, an acre of tomatoes and a steer. Go to work. at's how you are going to pay for your college. "'You will go to college.'" at was something his parents never did. When he was in high school, Sorrells stocked groceries and changed the oil and tires on vehicles at his father's gas station and grocery store in their Haywood County hometown. Aer graduation, his father pushed him to work at a rubber plant that manufactured fan belts and hoses for the automobile industry. ough Sorrells wanted no part of the factory job, his father was adamant. "I want you to understand the hard work that those men and women have to go through working in manufacturing," Sorrells remembers his father telling him. ose coming-of-age jobs — in agriculture, small retail and manufacturing settings — rooted Sorrells with a deep commitment to work that has served him well since. Effective Jan. 1, Sorrells will become the fih president in the history of Fayetteville Technical Community College, succeeding Larry Keen, who retired aer serving since 2007. "I'm excited about the opportunities," Sorrells says. "Dr. Keen is a great mentor. He's done a good job of schooling and preparing me for the role of president. I feel like I'm up to it. I'm very excited about it; I look forward to it. He has put together an exceptional leadership team. Having those relationships, I believe, will help us continue on." Building on foundations Sorrells was selected aer a nationwide search that began last March. e N.C. State Board of Community Colleges endorsed his selection on Sept. 16, and the FTCC board of trustees gave final approval. He had been senior vice president for academic and student services at the school for four years, coming from the Golden LEAF Foundation where he was senior vice president. "I'm not surprised because I worked my butt off," Sorrells says of getting the job. "And I feel like the things we were able to accomplish during the past four years were things that pointed to my ability to do the job. And do the job well and to carry on. e foundation had been established here." Sorrells says he has made connections across the community college system that will pay off. "(ere are) very few of them that I haven't done some extensive project working with (other) colleges," he says. "In addition to that, I have worked with most of the universities. I had a rich background and a lot of experience in workforce and economic development. In particular, my focus has been — and I devoted 35 years of my life to — working in some of the more challenging Tier 1, particularly, but also Tier 2 counties to help create more economic opportunities for all the people in all those communities."

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