Johnston Community College Foundation Receives Golden LEAF Grant to Expand Truck Driver Training Program
Published: October 17, 2022The funds will allow JCC to purchase two trucks and a simulator thanks to the Open Grants Program.
The Golden LEAF Board of Directors has awarded $443,000 in funding to support projects through the Open Grants Program to the Johnston Community College Foundation. The funding will allow JCC to purchase two trucks and a simulator to support the expansion of the college’s current Truck Driver Training program.
“Golden LEAF is pleased to support the expansion of Johnston Community College’s Truck Driver Training program,” said Golden LEAF President, Chief Executive Officer Scott T. Hamilton. “This funding will help the program nearly double enrollment, increase the retention rate, and create a career pathway through the high school, all of which will work toward meeting the significant need for truck drivers in the region.”
The expansion would help grow annual enrollment in the Truck Driver Training program from 185 to 241. The funding will also allow 30 incumbent workers to enroll in new continuing education courses and 20 high school students through a new CTE Pathway through the Career and College Promise program.
“We are thrilled to be awarded these funds from Golden LEAF to be applied toward the nation’s oldest Truck Driver Training school. Not only does this help the College, but it helps our regional economy by allowing us to train more pivotal contributors to the supply chain,” said JCC Interim President, Dr. Kenneth A. Boham.
Since 1999, Golden LEAF has funded 2,039 projects totaling $1.2 billion supporting the mission of advancing economic opportunity in North Carolina’s rural, tobacco-dependent, and economically distressed communities.
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About JCC
Established in 1969, Johnston Community College is a comprehensive community college within the North Carolina System, offering more than 35 academic programs and numerous continuing education programs, services and opportunities. The College provides programming through its main campus in Smithfield as well as the Arboretum, Rudolph Howell & Son Environmental Learning Center and the Workforce Development Center.
Johnston Community College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the associate degrees, diplomas, and certificates. Questions about the accreditation of Johnston Community College may be directed in writing to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097, by calling (404) 679-4500, or by using information available on SACSCOC's website (www.sacscoc.org). JCC is an equal educational and employment opportunity institution.
About Golden LEAF
The Golden LEAF Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 1999 to receive a portion of North Carolina’s funding from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with cigarette manufacturers. For more than 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 67,000 jobs, more than $720 million in new payrolls, and more than 95,000 workers trained or retrained for higher wages.
For more information about Golden LEAF and our programs, please visit our website at www.goldenleaf.org.