Golden LEAF Foundation Holds Workforce Roundtable at ECSU

Golden LEAF Foundation Holds Workforce Roundtable at ECSU

Organizations highlight impact of $7 million in funding

PRESS RELEASE

(ELIZABETH CITY, NC – January 29, 2020) – Today, the Golden LEAF Foundation held a workforce roundtable at the K. E. Graduate Center at Elizabeth City State University to highlight the impact of $7 million in grants to support workforce training programs in Pasquotank and surrounding counties.

“Workforce development is economic development,” said Golden LEAF President, Chief Executive Officer Scott T. Hamilton. “With economic advancement comes prosperity. Prosperity helps create jobs, and jobs offer hope, opportunity and dignity. That is why funding workforce development programs is so important. These organizations provide the knowledge and skills to be successful in the workplace.”

The event focused on workforce training programs funded by the Golden LEAF Foundation impacting the workforce and industries in Northeastern North Carolina.

The roundtable featured officials from and participants in programs with the following entities:

  • River City Community Development
  • Elizabeth City Pasquotank Public Schools
  • College of the Albemarle
  • Northeast Academy for Aerospace and Advanced Technologies (NEAAAT)
  • Elizabeth City State University

Over the past 20 years, the Golden LEAF Foundation has funded a total of $8.9 million to support economic development in Pasquotank County. Of that amount, $7 million was for workforce development projects.

Following the roundtable, participants and attendees toured the following sites funded by Golden LEAF: Elizabeth City State University’s STEM Complex, the Elizabeth City Regional Airport, and the College of the Albemarle’s welding labs.

About Golden LEAF

The Golden LEAF Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 1999 to receive a portion of North Carolina’s funding received from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with cigarette manufacturers. For 20 years, Golden LEAF has worked to increase economic opportunity in North Carolina’s rural and tobacco-dependent communities through leadership in grantmaking, collaboration, innovation, and stewardship as an independent and perpetual foundation.

The Foundation has provided lasting impact to tobacco-dependent, economically distressed and rural areas of the state by helping create 63,000 jobs, over half a billion dollars in new payrolls and more than 68,000 workers trained or retrained for higher wages. To learn more about the Golden LEAF Foundation, visit www.goldenleaf.org or call 888.684.8404.

Quotes from North Carolina Legislators:

Representative Bobby Hanig

“The College of the Albemarle provides the citizens of North Carolina’s most Northeastern counties with the opportunity to obtain the knowledge and skills for local, good-paying jobs,” said Representative Bobby Hanig. “The community college system is one of the best resources for our industry and workforce.”

Representative Howard Hunter

“I’m particularly pleased to see that the Golden LEAF Foundation has supported so many regional workforce development programs in the Northeast,” said Representative Howard Hunter. “Growing our own workforce helps the region retain talent and move the economic needle.”

Senator Bob Steinburg

“The Northeast Academy for Aerospace and Advanced Technologies is providing students with the opportunity to build the skills needed to be successful in advanced careers and degree programs in STEM-related fields,” said Senator Bob Steinburg. “I appreciate that the Golden LEAF Board of Directors provided support to help make NEAAAT a permanent fixture in the Northeast.”

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Contact:
Jenny Tinklepaugh
Golden LEAF Foundation
252.442.7474
[email protected]

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