Five trends are emerging that will not only change the role of human capital in the United States but will also challenge the legacy system of workforce development, skills and competency-focused institutions, and assuredly, community colleges. Workforce investment boards, for example, are currently geographically constrained in environments that cross jurisdictions of institutions, organizations, and locations of live-work-learn relationships. In certain parts of the U.S., this dynamic has received appropriate attention for broadening collaborative regional partnerships to compete globally. There are a handful of regions that are beginning to organize their assets and adjust their mindsets to participate as global hubs or global nodes in scientific, technological business models. Why are these communities getting the message while others are lagging? The author believes regions, corridors and other multi-geographic scenarios are now the norm not episodic, or rare occurrences. The single most important ingredient to successfully implementing a global hub-global node strategy is leadership from the civic- business-industry-entrepreneurial sectors providing political, financial, and, most importantly, reputational support for community colleges, workforce investment boards, four-year institutions to break the chains of a legacy system that limits U.S. competitiveness and innovation. The second most important ingredients are awareness and knowledge that are straightforward and fact-based so that resources may be coordinated in an effective and efficient manner to respond quickly to countries that have no legacy system and are prepared to spend billions towards creating environments where experiential learning and continuous education are considered the competitive advantage.