Cabinet Manufacturing Company to Create 136 Jobs in Rutherford County
Media Newswire
Gov. Bev Perdue recently announced that Gourmet Group LLC will acquire the assets of Geppetto Kitchens and expand the manufacturing capacity of the plant. Gourmet Group will continue to produce the Geppetto brand of kitchen cabinets over the next five years. The project is expected to create 136 jobs and the company expects to invest over $2.3 million in the project over the next three years. The project was made possible in part by a Golden LEAF grant. The Geppetto brand will grow through both geographic expansion and new product development. The location in Rutherford County was selected because of the ample labor supply and excellent community college training resources.
Jones County Schools awarded $1.1 million in grants
The Jones Post
Golden LEAF recently visited Jones County Middle School to present Jones County Schools with two ceremonial checks totaling over $1.1 million. A $750,000 Golden LEAF Community Assistance Initiative grant was awarded to Jones County Schools to support a one-to-one laptop program at Jones Senior High School. The project will provide each high school student and teacher with a laptop, teachers with curriculum support, and parents with access to technology. A $350,000 Golden LEAF STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Initiative grant to North Carolina’s Eastern Region will support STEM programs in 4 counties in the eastern region, including Jones. As part of the grant, Jones Middle School is receiving a technology STEM lab, which will consist of 10 modules, including flight simulation, bridge-building, engine maintenance and forensic science.
STEM initiative geared for Eastern North Carolina's students
The Daily Southerner
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University received a $500,000 Golden LEAF STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Initiative grant to incorporate STEM activities in six counties in Eastern North Carolina. The university partnered with Community Empowerment Network, a community-based organization and formed The Regional Collaborative for Excellence in STEM Program, an initiative targeted toward middle school students, specifically those in the sixth grade. One of the main goals for this program is to boost science and math scores in Edgecombe, Bertie, Gates, Wilson and Pitt County among middle school students.
Tri-County Community College Students Awarded Golden LEAF Scholarships
Tri-County Community College – website
Thirty two Tri-County Community College students recently received scholarships through the Golden LEAF Scholarship program for the North Carolina Community College System. The Golden LEAF Scholarship program, designed to help North Carolinians attend the state’s community colleges, is funded through a $750,000 grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation. Twenty-three curriculum students and nine continuing education students received Golden LEAF Scholarships at TCCC. The scholarship can be used for tuition, fees, books, supplies, transportation and child care expenses related to attending classes during the 2011-12 academic year. Eligible students must demonstrate financial need and reside in rural counties that are tobacco-dependent and/or economically distressed.
RCC student receives Golden LEAF scholarship
The Courier-Tribune
Mayghan Hurley of Asheboro, a nursing assistant student at Randolph Community College, will receive a $750 scholarship through the Golden LEAF Scholarship program for the N.C. Community College System. She plans to enroll in the Associate Degree Nursing program. The scholarship program, designed to help North Carolinians attend community college, is funded through a $750,000 grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation, an increase of $250,000 from previous years. The Golden LEAF Board recognized the challenge North Carolinians face in these tough economic times to attend college to retool and prepare for emerging job opportunities.
North Carolina campaign promoting locally grown food
Southeast Farm Press
In roughly 18 months, participants in North Carolina's 10% Campaign have recorded over $10 million in purchases of locally-produced foods. The 10% Campaign is a statewide effort of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems to stimulate economic development, create jobs and promote North Carolina’s farms and fisheries. More than 4,400 individuals and 427 businesses, including 72 restaurants, have signed on to the campaign pledging to spend 10 percent of their food budget on locally-sourced foods. The program was launched in July 2010 in partnership with North Carolina Cooperative Extension and with funding from Golden LEAF.
Elkin Center helps town nab Governor’s Innovative Small Business Community Award
Elkin Tribune
The Town of Elkin was recently recognized as one of nine communities receiving the inaugural Governor’s Innovative Small Business Community Award for its creative and innovative ways to help small businesses bring jobs to the area. The Elkin Center helped the town win the honor by helping attract Pittsburgh Glass Works, a company that will create 260 jobs and invest $85 million, to Elkin. This project was supported by a Golden LEAF Community Assistance Initiative grant. The Governor’s Innovative Small Business Community Award program recognizes projects, strategies and initiatives that reflect excellence in community economic development, small business and entrepreneurship, and sustainability in North Carolina.
Young leaders refuse to wait for change
News and Observer
Since inception, the Golden LEAF Foundation has provided 7,859 college scholarships to students from rural, former tobacco rich communities in the state. The Golden LEAF Scholars Leadership program, funded by Golden LEAF and administered by the Center for Creative Leadership, helps Golden LEAF scholars apply their budding entrepreneurial leadership skills to improve the rural communities they call home. As part of the program, Golden LEAF scholars are matched in professional internships over the summer. It is Golden LEAF’s hope that the students will find enticing opportunities that encourage them to return and become leaders in rural and economically distressed North Carolina communities after graduation.
Editorial: Forsyth Tech training programs are reaping benefits
Winston-Salem Journal
Technical colleges are becoming more crucial all the time for skilled-jobs training to meet the needs of industries recovering from the recession. Forsyth Tech is at the forefront nationally in skilled industry-specific jobs training. The school just finished its first six-week class of 13 employees headed for jobs at the new $426 million Caterpillar plant in Winston-Salem. Grant money from the Golden LEAF Foundation, Duke Energy and the N.C. Community College system paid for the equipment worth $650,000 that will used in its industrial manufacturing classes.
ECU Network Boost to Benefit All of Eastern North Carolina
NCTechNews
MCNC recently announced that East Carolina University has received a 10gig upgrade to network services and now serves as the main network hub for most community anchor institutions in North Carolina east of I-95. The upgrade was completed through the Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative, a $144 million expansion of NCREN. This historic project for North Carolina is funded through the federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) in addition to several private grants and investments including $24 million from the Golden LEAF Foundation.
Aviation Facilities Open House Nov. 4
Wayne Community College - website
Wayne Community College’s Aviation Systems Technology Program celebrated the renovation of its facilities at the Wayne Executive Jetport in Pikeville with a public open house on Friday, Nov. 4. The event featured brief remarks from college and Golden LEAF officials and students benefitting from the upgrades. A $550,000 Golden LEAF Foundation grant allowed WCC to incorporate state-of-practice equipment into its Aviation Systems Technology program which teaches the practices and technologies used in aircraft manufacturing and maintenance, repair and overhaul industries.
Microloan program provides more seed money to help Fayetteville entrepreneurs
Fayetteville Observer
The Center for Economic Empowerment and Development recently received a $225,000 Golden LEAF Community Assistance Initiative grant to support its microloan program. Plans for the program include call an increase in loans from $10,000 to $20,000. The program assists women, low-income individuals, minority entrepreneurs and other small businesses in need of financial help. Eligible borrowers must be U.S. citizens, must have a business plan and should have gone through at least six basic entrepreneurship training workshops with CEED or a community college. They should have compiled a history of good bill payment over two years.
Laying cards on the table
Washington Daily News
During the second meeting of the Golden LEAF Community Assistance Initiative in Beaufort County community members voiced the qualities that hold Beaufort County back, as well as those that continue to project it forward. The initial finding was that the community had placed priority on four key issues facing the county: economic development and infrastructure, education and workforce development, health and wellness, social and people services. At the next Golden LEAF meeting, the community will decide which of the many key issues will stay on the table.
Incubator progress made
The Laurinburg Exchange
The Laurinburg-Scotland County Business Incubator Project recently chose a firm to design its 22,0000-foot building. Funding for the project comes in part from a $200,000 grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation. Businesses that participate in the program will have the opportunity to develop and grow their businesses in the incubator for a period of three to five years before moving to their own locations. Local entrepreneurs will have access to counseling, mentoring, training, startup capital, and incubator space in order to increase their chances of success. Plans call for the construction of three manufacturing bays within the building. The incubator is expected to create 60 new jobs and leverage an additional $2 million in private investment over a period of time.
Dream Weaver
Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald
The Place of Possibilities was awarded a $50,000 Golden LEAF grant for its E-Zone project. E-Zone is an entrepreneurial skills, marketing and business research program aimed at putting local people back to work. The E-Zone group – a collection of eight local young adults – perform 4 hours of classroom work and then gather for two additional hours of technical work on sewing machines. The group will take job readiness classes, offered through Roanoke-Chowan Community College. At the end of the eight-month program they will be prepared to enter the job force. Partner, Glenoit Fabrics, provided the industrial sewing machines and has agreed to put participants to work once the program is completed or work with participants in a co-op program, where they are self-employed in the textile industry.
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