FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- Terry Sanford High School Principal Diane Antolak had a shadow by the name of Mamo Meaza all day Thursday. He’s a civil engineer who got a behind-the-scenes look at the school as part of a new initiative between the Cumberland County Business Council and the school system.

Both groups want to get business leaders more involved in education, and shadowing a principal for a day was just the start to the new partnership. Altogether, 13 people from construction and engineering fields took part.

"The business partner provides a wonderful collaboration,” said Antolak. "We can get those young people to go out and see exactly how this applies to them now and how it will further enhance them when they graduate."

Meaza works as a general contractor. He said his company wants a skilled workforce, especially with all the growth that will spur from the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) decisions. Meaza spoke to a group of school administrators about finding trained employees who can help local companies take on close to $300 million worth of government contracts in the near future.

"If we do not train our resources and we do not have trained resources to go ahead and undertake these endeavors, we're going to see more and more out-of-state companies coming and taking the bulk of the jobs," Meaza said.

Both the school and business communities will evaluate how well the shadow program worked, and they will also figure out ways to enhance the new partnership. Both Meaza and Antolak suggested a mentoring program of some kind, and they’re hoping that what starts as a job shadow program grows into a substantial collaboration.