Northern Essex Community External Partners Report took home a silver in the National Council of Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR) Paragon Awards, the only national competition that honors excellence exclusively among marketing and PR professionals at two-year colleges.

The award was presented last month at NCMPR’s national conference in San Antonio, Texas.

The External Partners Report—titled “Together We Can Do Great Things”—was produced entirely in-house by the NECC Marketing and Communications team.

The report was distributed electronically last fall to 2300 of the college’s external partners including local employers; K-12 administrators; nonprofit leaders; transfer colleges; local, state, and federal elected officials; and volunteer boards.   The goal was to position the college as an important community resource, making key influencers aware of the breadth and depth of its community partnerships.

The report combined stats—such as the 400-plus high school students who are enrolled at Northern Essex—with stories illustrating the best of the college’s external partnerships.

This year’s Paragon competition drew 1,939 entries from 262 colleges across the United States and Canada. Durham College of Canada won the Gold in the Electronic Annual Report category and Community College of Philadelphia was awarded the bronze.

To view the report, visit https://www.necc.mass.edu/partnersreport/

For more information, contact Ron Taber, NECC’s chief marketing officer, rtaber@necc.mass.edu.

With campuses in Haverhill and Lawrence, Northern Essex Community College offers over 60 associate degree and certificate programs as well as hundreds of noncredit courses designed for personal enrichment and career growth.  Each year, close to 8,000 students are enrolled in credit associate degree and certificate programs on the Haverhill and Lawrence campuses; and another 2,600 take noncredit workforce development and community education classes on campus, and at businesses and community sites across the Merrimack Valley.  For more information, visit the website at www.necc.mass.edu.