Media Relations

Jenny Tinklepaugh
jtinklepaugh@goldenleaf.org
888-684-8404

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Press Release

 
Greetings—
 
At its April meeting, the Golden LEAF Foundation awarded 28 grants totaling just over $11.5 million to a diverse set of projects serving across North Carolina. Organizations in Rockingham and Mitchell counties were awarded 11 projects totaling just over $4.7 million through the Foundation’s Community Assistance Initiative (CAI) that will support infrastructure, access to health care, education and economic development. The Foundation also awarded grants across the state for agriculture, workforce training, job creation, education and its STEM Initiative.
 
In this edition of Golden LEAF News, read about agriculture projects such as the WNC Regional Livestock Center, the statewide 10% Campaign, and a local foods project in Pender County. Also mentioned are CAI projects in Cleveland and Halifax counties and the ongoing community forums in Jones and Montgomery counties. Other projects in the news are a job creation project in Lee County, the statewide Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative, a Rural Hope grant in Rockingham County, tourism in Cleveland County, and educational programs affecting Surry, Scotland, and Rowan counties.
 
Best,
Jenny

Jenny Tinklepaugh
Program/ Communications Officer
jtinklepaugh@goldenleaf.org
www.goldenleaf.org

In this edition of "Golden LEAF News":

Farmers pack livestock center on opening day
The Mountaineer
At WNC Regional Livestock Center’s inaugural sale, 968 head of livestock were delivered and sold. The Livestock Center will serve as an economic development program for the livestock industry with three areas of focus: a long-term, viable market to sell livestock to replace the market that closed in 2004; a quality improvement program to improve the quality of the herd; and giving area producers access to buyers who are willing to pay top dollar for quality beef. The WNC Regional Livestock Center was funded in part by Golden LEAF. For more information, contact the Livestock Center at 828-646-3700.

Shelby city leaders approve $1 million grant to build Foothills Commerce Center
Shelby Star
The Shelby City Council unanimously approved this week the use of a $1 million Community Assistance Initiative grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation to build the Foothills Commerce Center project. The grant will assist the City of Shelby with the recruitment of new businesses to Cleveland County through the construction of a job-ready shell building targeting light manufacturing industries.
 
Board approves Frontier grant
Sanford Herald
Lee County has entered into a lease agreement with fabrics giant Frontier Spinning that will allow the Sanford-based company to receive $1 million from the Golden LEAF Foundation to purchase pallets that will allow more importing and exporting. The pallets are specifically built to ship yarn and their addition will mean increased business between Frontier and the N.C. Ports Authority in Wilmington. Under the agreement, Frontier will retain jobs in North Carolina and buy an agreed-upon amount of North Carolina-grown cotton. The company will also pay an additional fee to the county if the number of jobs or the amount of cotton is too low. At the end of the five-year lease agreement, the county will use money from the lease to set up a revolving loan fund to attract other businesses to the county.
 
Broadband update: NC project ahead of schedule
WRAL Tech
The first 100 miles of conduit that will house the new fiber for the Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative (GLRBI) is in the ground. The first phase of the project began in November 2010. Since then, construction crews from Fiber Technologies and Globe Communications have worked to place conduit through mountains and rock, across and under lakes and rivers. More than 25 percent of the overall construction for the first round of the project is now complete. Heading into the second phase of the project, we anticipate construction beginning in May or early June.
 
Morehead Hospital receives grant
Greensboro News & Record
The Golden LEAF Foundation awarded Morehead Hospital a $100,000 Rural Hope grant to purchase new hardware and software that will enable more comprehensive CT scans (Computed Tomography) for cancer patients. The hospital uses that information to provide treatment planning for patients undergoing radiation therapy at the Smith-McMichael Cancer Center. Local cancer patients will be able to receive more treatment in Eden, rather than having to travel outside of Rockingham County. The project will increase revenues for the hospital and will result in the creation of four jobs.

MCNC aims to spread broadband around state
News and Observer
MCNC is building out enough high-speed, middle-mile broadband capacity for at least 25 years through the Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative. The total cost of the project will come to $146 million. In addition to the $100 million from the federal stimulus, MCNC will pay for the project with $24 million from the Golden LEAF Foundation in Rocky Mount and its own funds. Much of MCNC's buildout will ring the state, linking the mountains, coastal areas and other remote areas into a wobbly oval.
 
Jones residents, groups gather at Golden LEAF meeting
Kinston Free Press
Eager residents gathered at the Jones County Civic Center this week for the fourth in a series of Community Assistance Initiative meetings hosted by the Golden LEAF Foundation. The ultimate goal of the meetings is to determine how to spend approximately $2 million in reserved grant money. Jones County citizens had narrowed down ideas to three groups: education and workforce training, economic development and human and community services. The purpose of this month’s meeting was to create results statements. The next meeting will be held April 19 at 6 p.m. at the Civic Center.
 
Proposals evaluated for grant
Montgomery Herald
Golden LEAF representatives were in Montgomery County to discuss the 15 projects submitted for consideration in the Foundation’s Community Assistance Initiative. The Initiative is proposals are to be geared toward job creation and once finalized these proposals will be submitted to the Golden LEAF Board for approval. Montgomery County citizens involved in the process voted on a review committee consisting of three voting representatives from each priority area (barriers to services, employment, education, and infrastructure) and an alternate. The review committee will evaluate the proposals and submit the final request to the Golden LEAF Board who makes the final decision.
 
Grant fuels county tourism: Golden LEAF awards $75,000
Shelby Star
The Golden LEAF Foundation recently awarded a $75,000 grant to Cleveland county Division of Tourism to create signage for the Kings Mountain Gateway Trails; to further develop marketing for the Between the Rivers Wine Trail and agritourism projects; to assist local farmers with selling more produce locally through direct sales and local restaurants; and to recruit group travel regarding motorcoach tours, trade shows, conferences and sporting events.
 
Grocer commits to locally sourced foods
Jacksonville Daily News
The 10 % Campaign, started in 2010 by the Center for Environmental Farming Systems with support from North Carolina Cooperative Extension and the Golden LEAF Foundation, encourages consumers to spend 10 percent of their food dollars on locally sourced food. Preston Taylor, store manager of Piggly Wiggly of Jacksonville, said the decision to participate was a “no-brainer.” He also presented the campaign to other Piggly Wiggly stores in Eastern North Carolina in the same ad group; they all signed on. For more information on the campaign, visit nc10percent.com.
 
Calling all farmers: Dig Into Local Show at WNC Farmers Market-April 9
NC Alternative Crops and Organics
The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is showcasing local farmers and a variety of WNC food products with the “Dig into Local” show at the WNC Farmers Market on Saturday, April 9th from 11 am – 3 pm. This event to promote NC local foods is made possible with funds from the Golden LEAF Foundation. If interested, and to get an application, please contact Dee Bartlett, NCDA&CS Marketing Specialist, at dee.bartlett@ncagr.gov  or 919.707.3106.

New food center means more local food in your community
WECT
An effort to spread the consumption of local food took off with the grand opening of southeastern North Carolina's first food distribution center in Burgaw in March. The food distribution center will help small local farmers remain marketable in a global economy. Funded by the Golden LEAF Foundation and the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission, the center is designed to encourage and support the local food economy, while preserving the area's rural cultural and agricultural heritage.

Broadband line being built through Haywood
The Mountaineer
Mark Clasby, executive director of the Haywood County Economic Development Commission and the nonprofit Haywood Advancement Foundation, has felt the county has been out of the loop when it comes to broadband Internet access. Haywood County is part of a gap in the broadband infrastructure in Western NC. However, construction began last week on a new line that will run from Enka to Sylva, directly through Haywood County along U.S. 19/23. The funding for the project comes from $255 million in federal recovery grants North Carolina has received to extend broadband throughout the state and from the Golden LEAF Foundation’s Rural Broadband Initiative. The project is being managed by the state nonprofit group Making Connections in North Carolina (MCNC).

No idle hands
Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald
Carpentry is just one of three classes being offering at the Lake Gaston Community Center as part of a collaborative effort with Halifax Community College. Jack Saunders, project coordinator for the community center, said the center received a $242,700 grant from the Golden LEAF Community Assistance Initiative. Part of the grant requirements included the community center providing training for people who are unemployed and underemployed, so they can become employed.

CommScope to Provide Fiber Materials for Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative
WRAL Tech Wire
CommScope, Inc., a global leader in infrastructure solutions for communications networks, has been selected by MCNC to provide materials related to the second round expansion of the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN) through the Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative (GLRBI). CommScope is based in Hickory. This contract is estimated at $14 million and is slated to construct approximately 1,500 miles of new fiber through northeastern, north central, northwest, south central and central North Carolina. The Golden LEAF Foundation provided $24 million in matching funds for the project.

Surry County School District awarded STEM grant
Mount Airy News
The Surry County School District recently received a $350,000 STEM Initiative grant award from the Golden LEAF Foundation. The funding will help the district prepare students for careers requiring skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), due to the growing need for these skills in industries across the state. The focus of the initiative is to support successful models that increase STEM education for students in grades four through nine in rural, economically distressed and/or tobacco-dependent counties of North Carolina.
 
21st century program wins national recognition
Salisbury Post
The Rowan Salisbury School System’s 21st century learning program was recently named an Apple Exemplary Program, a designation that recognizes exemplary examples of the use of Apple products in teaching and learning. The district is one of 40 in the nation to receive the honor. The number of handheld devices such as iPods jumped from 157 in 2005-06 to 4,430 in 2010-11, an increase of 2,722 percent. The majority of that growth can be attributed to the iPod touch program at North Rowan High School. The entire school was equipped with an iPod at the start of this year, thanks to a grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation.
 
Teacher attends workshop
The Laurinburg Exchange
A Scotland County teacher recently attended a support seminar for teachers pursuing certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Kelly C. Wheeler of Scotland High School of Visual and Performing Arts attended the seminar, held at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching, a recognized national leader in professional development programming for teachers. Wheeler attended the seminar as a Golden LEAF scholar through an award to NCCAT from Golden LEAF Foundation Inc. of Rocky Mount.

Rockingham People
Greensboro News & Record
Jonathan R. Drye of Douglass Elementary School in Eden attended a support seminar for teachers pursuing certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Drye attended the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching seminar as a Golden LEAF scholar.

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