Jul 15, 2026
Welcome to Chatter with BNC, Business North Carolina's weekly podcast, serving up interviews with some of the Tar Heel State's most interesting people.
On today's episode, Ben Kinney speaks with Kathie Sidner, Director of Workforce and Partnerships Strategy and Policy for the UNC System. Kathie shares her winding career journey — from engineering at UVA and a paper mill gig to the intelligence community, Army Research Office, and finally the UNC System. She discusses the new Military Equivalency System, which maps military training to academic credit across all 16 UNC campuses to help transitioning service members earn degrees and stay in North Carolina. She also breaks down UNC's latest workforce alignment report and the state's critical need for more graduates in engineering, nursing, and education.