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Press Release

Dan Gerlach, Golden LEAF President

    As the new General Assembly begins its work, attention is focused on the need to keep promises made to the people of North Carolina. Their jobs are difficult, and you should thank them for their willingness to serve and meet the challenges ahead. The most important promise made is the commitment to find ways to grow jobs in North Carolina. We share that commitment.
   
    But today, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to divert the Foundation's annual settlement payment of $68 million to the State's General Fund. Some in Raleigh may think that we have enough resources, or that those funds promised to Golden LEAF and the communities it serves could be better used to patch state budget holes.
   
    That's not the answer. Other states have used their tobacco settlement funds long ago to patch their budget. Now their money is gone, and they face the same issues we face but don't have access to the assets you currently do through the Golden LEAF Foundation to create jobs and expand economic opportunity. Golden LEAF has helped create an anticipated 4,300 jobs and over $900 million in capital investments in the last two years alone.
   
    I have been sharing this information with many policymakers, new and experienced. Apparently this has not been enough. I ask you to tell the story to your local legislators of how Golden LEAF has helped your community, for you see it every day. Thank your legislators for their support as you share your successes and vision with them. They need all hands on deck to help them devise ways to support the creation and preservation of jobs, as they navigate these tough economic times.
   
    Golden LEAF was created under a promise to use tobacco settlement proceeds for the long-term, economic advancement of rural, economically distressed, and tobacco-dependent counties. At a time when our communities are most in need, that promise cannot be broken.
    
    Golden LEAF was created over 10 years ago, and we’ve awarded over 1,000 grants in that time. Much of our grantsmaking has been made from the investment earnings from the proceeds we receive, making the Foundation one of the most conservative of entities – spending earnings, and growing settlement dollars. Despite the enormous growth in grant awards made by our Board of Directors, we continue to cut our administrative costs. This year we will be at the lowest administrative cost in four years. We will do our part to confront the challenges before us.
    
    Our Board recently committed to devote more of our grantsmaking to strategies to help small and existing North Carolina businesses. Our aid for these engines of growth will complement our grantsmaking in agriculture, job recruitment and expansion, education and workforce training and the resources devoted to our most distressed counties. These smart, targeted, flexible ideas will generate job and income growth that North Carolinians so desperately need and currently have a way to access through Golden LEAF.     
    
    We are here to fulfill the mission, in service to you. Please let me know what we can do to serve you better. Thank you for your support and for your leadership and commitment to your community and North Carolina.

Dan Gerlach, Golden LEAF President
dgerlach@goldenleaf.org
www.goldenleaf.org


In this edition of Golden LEAF News:

Golden LEAF surpasses 1000 grants in 2010
North Carolina Network of Grantmakers
In 2010, the Golden LEAF Foundation reached a milestone by surpassing one thousand grants made since inception in 1999. To date, the Foundation has awarded 1,017 grants worth more than $477 million to support projects that are working to help diversify and rebuild economies once dependent on tobacco and tobacco manufacturing. For information on Golden LEAF's grant opportunities for 501(c)(3) nonprofits and governmental entities, click the following links: Open Grants Program and Economic Catalyst Cycle.

Golden LEAF listens to Jones County citizens
Kinston Free Press
Civic organizations, school officials, local government and community individuals met earlier this week in Trenton to share ideas for spending nearly $2 million in grant money available through the Golden LEAF Foundation's Community Assistance Initiative (CAI). The CAI process will work to get the community to reach a consensus on key issues facing the county and determine how to use the money effectively. More than 100 people showed up for the meeting to discuss the county’s needs and assets. The next meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 22 at the Jones Civic Center to discuss prioritizing issues and recognizing the results the community hopes to achieve.

Golden LEAF Scholarship Applications Due March 1
Yahoo News
Golden LEAF Scholarship information and applications for 2011-12 are now available at CFNC.org/goldenleaf. A total of 215 awards will be offered to first-time recipients for the 2011-12 academic year. The awards are valued at $12,000 ($3,000 per year for up to four years) for students attending a qualifying, four-year North Carolina campus and are funded by a grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation. Golden LEAF Scholarship opportunities are also available for community college students.  Details on both four-year and community college scholarships are available at CFNC.org/goldenleaf or call 866-866-CFNC.

NS Aviation To Invest $1.27 Million In North Carolina, Create 308 Jobs
GovMonitor
NS Aviation, a start-up provider of aircraft maintenance and repair services, will locate in Forsyth County. The company plans to create 308 jobs and invest $1.27 million during the next four years in Winston-Salem. The project was made possible in part by a $300,000 grant from the One North Carolina Fund and a $500,000 grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation. NS Aviation plans to revive much of the former repair business of Pace Airlines and expects to hire many of the former Pace employees that are currently unemployed.

Center provides ‘hands-on’ learning
The Mountaineer
The Regional High Technology Center at Haywood Community College isn't just about educating people; it’s about getting them jobs, while helping local industry thrive. The Center serves as home to many classes, as well as a resource for local businesses that use applied advanced technology. Though the nationally recognized center offers computer labs, electrical and mechanical engineering labs, among other attributes, its Golden LEAF Advanced Machining Center is the real feather in its cap. Funded by a grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation, it’s a state-of-the art lab for metal forming, machining, computer-aided design, manufacturing and engineering. There isn’t another public-run lab like it in North Carolina.

More details announced for Shelby's business park: Foothills Commerce Center plans move forward
Shelby Star
Five years ago, Shelby wasn’t even on the radar when it came to attracting new industries. Fast forward to the start of 2011 and a brand new business park is in the works. The Foothills Commerce Center, a 152-acre site located on Artee Road, is becoming more than just a dream. The Center was also given a boost with a $1 million grant by Golden LEAF Foundation for the construction of the first job ready shell building. The first building in the business park is designed, ready to be constructed and will be awaiting potential tenants by the summer, thanks to the Golden LEAF grant.

10% Campaign Off to Strong Start
NC Farm Bureau Magazine
The Center for Environmental Farming Systems, (CEFS) with support from N.C. Cooperative Extension and the Golden LEAF Foundation, began the 10 Percent Campaign last year. It is an effort to educate and encourage consumers to spend 10 percent of their food dollars on locally sourced food. Organizers say the program should be a huge benefit to more than just local growers. North Carolinians spends $35 billion on food each year. If just 10 percent went to local growers, the 10 Percent Campaign calculates that more than $3.5 billion would be available in the state’s economy. So far, more than 1,700 individuals and 161 businesses have signed up for the campaign.

MCNC issues RFP for fiber-optic network
Triangle Business Journal
MCNC is asking contractors to submit proposals for building more than 1,100 miles of fiber optic lines for the expansion of the North Carolina Research and Education Network through the Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative. The construction, part of the $138 million expansion of NCREN, which is funded in part by $24 million from the Golden LEAF Foundation, is broken into seven segments: North Central ~203.9 miles; Northeast ~282.8 miles; Outer Banks ~243.3 miles; South Central ~238.7 miles; Central ~113.5 miles; Graham segments ~18 miles; Northwest segments ~50 miles. Respondents may submit proposals – in electronic format only – for one or more segments. Proposals must be submitted by Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. to pmoody@mcnc.org.

The longest mile: the quest for broadband access in WNC
Tuckasegee Reader
Meet the Middleman: The quest for broadband in WNC
Tuckasegee Reader
In the two articles above, read about how MCNC, thanks in part to a $24 million grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation, is helping connect over 69 mostly rural counties to high-speed broadband through what is called, “middle-mile” coverage. The project has the potential to serve 300,000 families that reside in underserved census blocks, and it will improve broadband service to 1,232 K-12 schools, 55 higher education institutions. It also has the potential to serve 183 public libraries and 63 hospitals.

Golden LEAF funds $349,000 for site of future farmers market
Kinston Free Press
Golden LEAF awarded a $394,000 grant to preserve a historic house in Snow Hill, which will also be the site of a future farmers market. The Golden LEAF Community Assistance Initiative, which funds projects to bolster economies in Tier 1 counties, will fund the development of the Elaney Wood Family Heritage Farm, Farmer’s Market/ Cannery and Alternative Agriculture Training Center, the purpose of which is to promote agri-tourism and agricultural heritage.

Projects hit the chopping block
GoDanRiver.com
The Rockingham County review team appointed to narrow down potential proposals solicited for the Golden LEAF Foundation’s Community Assistance Initiative has chosen seven Rockingham County projects which will go on to be evaluated by the foundation’s board of directors. Grants approved by the review team include funding for The Caswell Family Medical Center, Berry Hill Regional Mega Park, Rockingham County Schools, Rockingham Public Libraries and the City of Reidsville and two for the Rockingham County Business and Technology Center. The seven projects are requesting over $3 million for the $2 million Initiative. The Golden LEAF board will ultimately choose which projects and at what amounts will be funded.

Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center on Centennial Campus Revs Up Bioprocesses and Analytics
PRUSA
Nearly two years after jumpstarting an initiative to provide bioprocesses and analytical services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, the Golden LEAF Biomanufacturing Education and Training Center (BTEC) on NC State's Centennial Campus continues to see significant growth, currently juggling seven active projects. The Golden LEAF Foundation provided startup funds to design, build and equip the Center, which is located on Centennial Campus. BTEC is the largest facility of its kind in the world and holds more than $12.5 million of industry-standard equipment and a simulated cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practice) pilot plant facility. In addition to serving corporate clients, the facility also trains undergraduate and graduate students at NC State and other colleges for jobs that produce medicines, vaccines, diagnostics, enzymes, amino acids, veterinary medicine and related products.

Obesity Research in North Carolina
News and Observer
Scientists at UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke University and East Carolina University are delving into the origins of diabetes. Funded in part by the National Institutes of Health and the N.C. Golden LEAF Foundation, which supports projects that benefit people in areas once dependent on tobacco, an ECU team has been exploring the intricate cellular workings that go awry when people consistently eat high-fat foods that dominate American diets.

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