North Carolina's 58 community colleges have been key players in the state's fast-shifting economy, driven in large part by the numerous businesses flocking to the high-technology Raleigh-Durham Research Triangle area. Major employers like IBM, Novartis, Credit Suisse, and EA Associates have all partnered with North Carolina Community College System institutions to keep employees trained on the latest in high technology. Nevertheless, recent actions by the North Carolina State Board of Community Colleges threaten to deny the growing population of undocumented state residents any opportunity to get a community college education. This article examines this issue. An interview with Dr. James H. Johnson, the William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, about a report he co-authored, "The Economic Impact of the Hispanic Population on the State of North Carolina (2006)," is included.