VGCC to receive federal grant funding for TechHire program


Vance-Granville Community College has been awarded nearly $1 million as part of a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to a consortium that involves three other North Carolina community colleges.

The grant totals $4 million and will be split among VGCC, Alamance Community College, Halifax Community College and James Sprunt Community College. JSCC is serving as the lead institution in the consortium of colleges, called the North Carolina TechHire Alliance. Each college will use the funding for workforce development initiatives that meet the unique needs of the area it serves, as part of the North Carolina TechHire Program. The four colleges plan to train 400 people over a four-year period through the grant.

“We are excited to collaborate with our sister colleges and our local partners to provide training that will support our advanced manufacturing and information technology sectors,” said Dr. Stelfanie Williams, the president of VGCC. She said that the college identified particular “skills gaps” with area businesses in those fields.

“Vance-Granville has a proven track record of success in building a strong workforce in both of these growing areas,” President Williams added. “We look forward to using this grant to invest in our students, helping them prepare for highly-skilled jobs while helping employers in our communities compete and thrive in the global economy.”

VGCC will use the funding to recruit, assess, train, provide certifications to, and place 25 North Carolina TechHire Program participants into jobs each year over the next four years. Eligible students will receive support in forms that may include tuition assistance, transportation and mentoring.

Four employers are partnering with the college on the new TechHire program and wrote letters of support for the grant application: Stay Online of Creedmoor, ATOS North America of Boydton, Va., and Bridgestone Bandag and Dill Air Controls Products, both of Oxford. Dill also recently became the first company to join VGCC in the North Carolina Triangle Apprenticeship Program (NCTAP).

Each employer committed to providing hiring consideration for applicants who participate in the program, and to providing work-based learning opportunities. The businesses will also provide feedback to VGCC in order to ensure that the training programs align with the competencies they need in workers.

As part of the North Carolina TechHire Program, the college will focus on a number of certification programs based on the needs of employers, including Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) Programming, Solid Modeling Computer Aided Drafting (CAD), Automation Systems, as well as three widely-recognized certifications developed by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA): CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, and CompTIA Server+.

The area served by VGCC (Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties) is expected to see an increase of 2,000 advanced manufacturing jobs by 2020. Economic Modeling Specialists International (EMSI) has predicted that high-skilled occupational categories such as Information Technology are projected to grow 30% (282 jobs) in the service area by 2024. In addition, ATOS North America anticipates adding a minimum of 75 information technology jobs in the next three years.

This is the second U.S. Department of Labor grant awarded to VGCC in recent years. In 2013, the college received a Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant worth more than $1.75 million, which was the single largest competitive grant award received in VGCC’s history. In addition, the $147,000 NCWorks Job-Driven Initiative grant awarded to VGCC in partnership with the Kerr-Tar Workforce Development Board in 2014 was itself derived from U.S. Department of Labor grant funding.

The North Carolina TechHire Program was one of 39 innovative partnerships across the country receiving a total of $150 million in the Department of Labor’s TechHire grant program.