For Release:  Immediately
Contact:         Bob Burchette, Guilford Technical CC, 336-334-4822, Ext. 2566
 
NC Community Colleges receive new boost from Duke Energy Community College Grant
 
GREENSBORO:  Duke Energy has awarded almost a quarter of a million dollars to Guilford Technical Community College (GTCC)  to boost programs that support the fast-growing aviation industry.
 
The $243,958 grant from Duke Energy's  Community and Technical College Grant Program will help establish a training program specifically  for avionics technicians at GTICC's facility near Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTI).
 
About 40 to 50 avionics specialists are expected to be trained a annually once the program is started in the fall of 2009, according to Ed Frye, GTCC’s chair for transportation.
 
Frye said that the long-term goal of the project is to meet the Triad avionics and aviation electronics employment needs. “Currently, the regional aviation workforce employs approximately 3,000 to 5,000. According to the Greensboro Economic Development Alliance, about 1,700 aviation jobs will be added in the next five years.”
 
“This grant is the seed money we will need to jump start the avionics program at GTCC,” Frye said. “This is a program that both individual technicians and aviation employers have been requiring for many years but we simply could not afford to get up and running."
 
“We may be using portions of this training by next spring in a program we already are doing for HondaJet but this program is for all of the companies we serve,” he said. Those companies also include TIMCO Aviation Services, Cessna Citation Service Center, Atlantic Aero Inc., Landmark Aviation and Tradewinds Airlines, all located at PTI Airport, and Pace Airlines at Smith-Reynolds Airport in Winston-Salem.
 
This is Guilford Technical Community College's third grant from the Duke Energy Community and Technical College Grant Program, founded in 2004 to support community college training focused on manufacturing.   Projects funded through the grant, which range up to $250,000 each, must address training, retraining and other efforts to strengthen manufacturing. Also, they must fall within Duke Energy's service area, which is concentrated in the Piedmont manufacturing corridor and in the mountains.  To date, the program has awarded more than $7 million in 34 grants to 20 North Carolina community colleges (full list below).
 
Staff members from the NC Community College System, the NC Department of Commerce and Duke Energy work with advisory committee members and the Foundation for the Carolinas in Charlotte to administer the programs.  Committee members say the most important outcome for measuring the program’s success is the number of manufacturing jobs created, retained or enhanced by funded projects. According to Foundation for the Carolinas reports, a conservative estimate of the number of manufacturing jobs created by employers participating in the funded projects is approximately a thousand, with at least 1800 retained thanks to improved productivity.
 
The North Carolina Community College System enrolls more than 800,000 students in 58 comprehensive community colleges. Internationally recognized for the scope and quality of its programs, the system is North Carolina's primary provider of workforce preparation and adult education.
 
See below for the full list of Duke Energy Community College Grants to date. Applications for the next round are due September 30. Grants will be announced in November.
 
For details, visit the website at http://www.duke-energy.com/community/education/community-technical-college-grants.asp
 
2008
Guilford TCC  $243,958 Avionics Technician Training
Central Piedmont CC $250,000 Advanced Manufacturing/Integrated Systems Technology
South Piedmont CC $247,750 Integrated Systems Technology - Workforce
Blue Ridge CC $250,000 Manufacturing and Machining Enhancement
Cleveland CC $250,000 Welding Program Upgrade and Expansion
Forsyth CC $197,372 Advanced Manufacturing through Supply Chain Management
McDowell Tech CC $219,464 Welding Enhancement and Expansion
 
2007
Tri-County CC $237,500 Customized Workforce Development Training
Asheville-Buncombe TCC $238,046 Resurgent Manufacturing Initiative
Caldwell CC and TI $250,000 Information Technology Institute
South Piedmont CC $229,060 21st Century Machinist Training
Alamance CC $246,194 State of the Art Integrated Systems Technology Training
Davidson County CC $250,000 Automation Technology Lab Expansion
Gaston College $249,789 CNC Million & Turning Training
Isothermal CC $250,000 Welding Program Enhancement
Guilford TCC $193,150 CNC Milling and Turning Training
 
2006
Alamance CC $235,512 State of the Art Machinist Technology Training
Guilford TCC $125,350 Sustaining Manufacturing Workforce through Workkeys
Isothermal CC $250,000 Training and Development for Manufacturing Industries
Forsyth Tech CC $46,288 Skills Upgrade for Manufacturing Maintenance Employees
Isothermal CC $180,000 Building Construction Trades
Randolph CC $244,200 State of the Art CNC Training
 
2005
Davidson County CC $250,000 Employee Recruitment and Training
Vance-Granville CC $108,376 Solectron Creedmoor Job Retention
Blue Ridge CC $60,000 BioWorks for Gaia Herbs
Isothermal CC $216,500 Training and Development for Manufacturing Technologies and certifications
Cleveland CC $250,000 Multi-Craft Maintenance Training
Gaston College $173,626 Biotechnology Capacity-Building
Catawba Valley CC $239,881 Putting the Catawba Valley to Work
Central Piedmont CC $124,442 Solectron Job Retention and Training
Western Piedmont CC $175,067 Henredon Furniture Industries Job Retention
 
2004
Forsyth TCC $248,600 Industrial Systems Technology Training
Tri-County CC $136,030 Machinist Journeyman Training
Central Piedmont CC $240,821 Advanced Manufacturing/Integrated Systems Technology
 
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