Partnerships, Progress celebrated at Community Leaders Day

Oct. 9, 2025

SARANAC LAKE — North Country Community College welcomed local leaders, community partners, and elected officials to its Saranac Lake campus on Tuesday, Oct. 7, for Community Leaders Day 2025, a biennial event that celebrates collaboration and shared impact across the region.

Held in the Connector, the event provided an opportunity to thank the college’s many partners for their support and to highlight milestones in enrollment growth, academic innovation, and workforce development.

“This event is about celebrating the community that sustains us,” said President Joe Keegan. “Colleges are more than their buildings—they’re the people who learn, work, and lead within them, and the communities they serve. Our success comes from partnerships that open doors for students right here in the North Country.”

Keegan shared that North Country has achieved six consecutive semesters of enrollment growth since spring 2023, and graduated nearly 240 students last spring, up from fewer than 200 the previous year. He credited that progress to the college’s “shared mission” with county and local governments, employers, and residents.

College Highlights Programs and Partnerships

Vice President for Academic Affairs Sarah Maroun highlighted the college’s expanding lineup of short-term and stackable credentials designed to meet workforce needs across the region. These include micro-credentials in Direct Support Professional training, Emergency Medical Technician certification, and partnerships in cybersecurity and software engineering.

“The workforce landscape is changing,” Maroun said, “and we’ve worked hard to make education more flexible and responsive—so adults can return to school, high school students can earn career credentials early, and employers can find the trained professionals they need right here in the North Country.”

Maroun also pointed to the college’s participation in Achieving the Dream, a national initiative aimed at improving student success and long-term community outcomes, and highlighted new student success coaches on each campus who help learners overcome barriers to completion.

Programs Making an Impact

Faculty and alumni presentations showcased how North Country’s programs translate education into community benefit.

• Mindy Fredenburg, head of the Environmental Science program, described how students gain hands-on experience in field research, wildlife monitoring, and local conservation work—culminating each spring with the release of Atlantic salmon fry into the Saranac River.
• Kathleen Dowd-Maloney, chair of the college’s Human Services programs, outlined growth in the college’s Addictions Counseling and Direct Support Professional programs, driven by strong partnerships with county agencies and organizations like the Adirondack Arc and Citizen Advocates.
• Lyndsay Stevens, Residential Director at Adirondack Arc and an alumna of the college, shared how North Country’s micro-credentialing programs are strengthening the human services workforce and creating leadership opportunities within the field.

Elected Officials Praise College’s Local Impact

Four elected officials — Essex County Board of Supervisors Vice Chair Jim Monty, Franklin County Legislature Vice Chair Andrea Dumas, state Assemblyman Matt Simpson, and state Senator Dan Stec — also addressed the crowd, each emphasizing the college’s growing role in meeting regional workforce needs and strengthening the local economy.

“North Country Community College is in tune with its community,” Simpson said. “It’s constantly evolving to meet new challenges … and that’s what keeps the North Country strong.”

Senator Stec praised North Country’s ability to grow enrollment and adapt to regional needs.

“North Country Community College is a model of how higher education should work,” Stec said. “You’re serving students of all ages, responding to workforce challenges in fields like health care and public safety, and making a real economic and social impact across the North Country. This is exactly the kind of investment in education that pays off for communities and taxpayers alike.”

Learn more about North Country Community College at www.nccc.edu.