CCCC gets nearly half a million for regional truck driving program equipment

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SANFORD — The Golden LEAF Board of Directors has awarded Central Carolina Community College $498,924.36 for training equipment for a regional truck driving and logistics program providing Commercial Truck Driver and short-term logistics courses.

This award is part of a collaborative effort by Central Carolina, Sandhills and Randolph community colleges, which will be using a scaled shared-resources model to incentivize collaboration. This project will serve Chatham, Harnett, Hoke, Lee, Moore and Randolph counties.

“CCCC is excited to be the recipient of these Golden LEAF funds as part of our regional collaboration with Sandhills and Randolph community colleges,” said Margaret Roberton, CCCC’s vice president for workforce development. “This is a unique opportunity for three community colleges to work together to ensure that high quality, in-demand training is available across a wide region of central North Carolina. Truck drivers are in high demand in North Carolina and the country and quality truck driver training is an expensive program to operate. CCCC and the collaborative appreciates the Golden LEAF Board of Directors for this award, which will allow the three colleges to leverage their partnership and provide access to Commercial Driver’s License training, supporting the individuals in our communities looking for great jobs and the employers who need a skilled workforce.”

The truck driver training program provides instruction in both theory and practice, including hands-on behind-the-wheel operation of tractor-trailers, preparing students to safely operate tractor-trailer vehicles on the road to and from pickup and delivery points. Emphasis is placed on defensive driving, Federal Motor Carrier Safety regulations, trip planning, cargo handling, vehicle systems, hours of service and accident prevention. Upon completion, students should be able to demonstrate the skills required for the commercial driver’s license and employment.

“Golden LEAF recognizes the importance of regional collaboration to provide cost-effective workforce solutions for skills in high demand by industry,” said Scott T. Hamilton, president and CEO of the Golden LEAF Foundation. “This effort by Central Carolina Community College, Sandhills Community College, and Randolph Community College will support industry by training a minimum of 60 students for transportation and logistics credentials per year.”

Scholarships are available to support students wishing to pursue this training course.

Those interested in this course should go to nctruckdriving.com/request-info and fill out the form, or contact Thomas “Lantz” Lackey, lead instructor of the Truck Driver Training Program, at tlackey@cccc.edu or 919-718-7072.

Learn more about this program at nctruckdriving.com.

Over two decades, Golden LEAF has funded 1,989 projects totaling $1.18 billion.

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. Golden LEAF has worked for more than 20 years to increase economic opportunity in North Carolina’s rural and tobacco-dependent communities through leadership in grant making, 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 66,000 jobs, over half a billion dollars in new payrolls and more than 90,000 workers trained or retrained for higher wages.

For more information on Central Carolina Community College, which is dedicated to providing pathways to achievable dreams, visit www.cccc.edu.