RCC receives $1M federal funds
Apr 10, 2024Congresswoman Kathy Manning (NC-06) visited Rockingham Community College to celebrate $1 million in federal funding for the Center for Workforce Development.
Manning first visited campus in February 2023 to meet with RCC President Dr. Mark O. Kinlaw and Rockingham County Schools Superintendent Shawn Stover to share her work in Congress to support workforce development programs.
After her departure, she secured federal funding for RCC through the Community Project Funding appropriations process.
On April 3, Manning returned with several of her staff members and toured the Center for Workforce Development, which is slated for completion in May.
The 42,000 square-foot, $25 million project will feature the latest technology for advanced manufacturing. It will house programs in Computer-Integrated Machining, Mechatronics, and Electrical Systems Technology, as well as the college’s Small Business Center and Office of Corporate Education and Training. Other spaces include a 200-seat corporate meeting space and adjacent catering kitchen. Construction started in August 2022 funded in large part by local quarter-cent sales tax revenues.
“Workforce development programs and hands-on educational initiatives at community colleges prepare workers for good-paying jobs, encourage entrepreneurship, and ensure local businesses can fill important job openings. That’s why I’m proud to have secured funding for [Rockingham Community College],” said Manning.
“We greatly appreciate Rep. Kathy Manning and her office for supporting our new Center for Workforce Development. There is a tremendous need to support industry in our county and region so that the jobs being created can be filled with the talent needed to continue to grow our economy,” said Kinlaw.
“The $1 million will go toward equipment needed to train our students in the area of advanced manufacturing, the focus of our new building, which is scheduled for completion in May 2024 with classes starting in the fall of 2024,” he continued.
“The funds will support the work our college and our county school system are doing together to address workforce needs in advanced manufacturing. We want to get students in career pathways in advanced manufacturing while they are in high school and use this new Center for Workforce Development as the hub for this work,” said Kinlaw. “We appreciate Rep. Kathy Manning and her team for supporting our work.”
~By Gerri Hunt, RCC Director of Public Information
