Cleveland Community College has been awarded a $1.5 million grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation, Inc. as part of its Community-Based Grantsmaking Initiative. The awarded grant will help fund the construction of the Advanced Manufacturing Center at CCC.
"The Advanced Manufacturing Center will provide much needed space for our automation, machining and other advanced manufacturing programs," said Bruce Mack, dean of Advanced Manufacturing and Public Services. "Plus, it will give us the opportunity to work with local industry to expand current programs and potentially add new ones if the need arises."
Once constructed, the Advanced Manufacturing Center will provide twice the square footage each program currently occupies.
Money from the grant will go toward a portion of the construction costs associated with the Advanced Manufacturing Center project. The 30,000 square foot center was approved by state and local boards and will be constructed on the campus of CCC. Groundbreaking is planned for spring 2018.
Eddie Holbrook, senior dean of Development and Governmental Relations, believes projects like this will keep Cleveland County competitive for future economic development opportunities. "We are continually working and finding ways to move the needle, keeping the workforce skilled and employers engaged. The Advanced Manufacturing Center is another step in the right direction."
Economic development efforts have been very successful in Cleveland County, creating a need for a larger skilled workforce. In the past year, Cleveland County has made nine manufacturing sector job announcements totaling 700 new jobs over the next few years. CCC is at the forefront of providing training that results in credentials in these targeted programs, in order to meet workforce demand.
Manufacturing sector employment is the largest industry sector in Cleveland County, employing more than 6,400 workers. Over the past five years, manufacturing has had the best job growth in this service area, adding more than 1,300 jobs. And, manufacturing has the third highest average wage per worker at $52,000 annually. (Source: JobsEQ Economic Overview: Cleveland County, NC, April and June reports)
The Golden LEAF Foundation's mission is to increase economic opportunity in North Carolina's rural and tobacco-dependent communities through leadership in grantsmaking, collaboration, innovation, and stewardship as an independent and perpetual foundation. The Community-Based Grantsmaking Initiative (CBGI) is a competitive grantsmaking process across NC's economic development zones.
Submitted by Paula B. Vess