WINSTON-SALEM – Partnerships between the business world and academia take many, many forms.

In the accompanying video, Susan Cameron, the President and CEO of Reynolds American, Inc., details one company’s reliance on higher education in North Carolina.

Cameron describes Reynolds’ long relationship with agronomy research at NC State University, its support for scholarships at Winston-Salem State University, and its dependence on Forsyth Technical Community College to upgrade thousands of workers’ skills.

“They have been partners with us, and they have continually driven up the skill levels. As we’ve needed to train on new equipment, we have partnered with them – I mean, thousands of our employees over the years have taken advantage of that community college system and that partnership with Forsyth Tech,” she says. “… Those partnerships are critical.”