Golden LEAF funding means truck driver training program is a go for RCC
Thanks to a grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation, Randolph Community College can provide training for truck drivers.
Thanks to a grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation, Randolph Community College can go forward with a venture with Central Carolina and Sandhills community colleges to provide training for truck drivers. The College is currently seeking instructors for the program, which is slated to start next year, and the grant will allow all three colleges to run classes simultaneously once the equipment is in place.
On April 7, the Golden Leaf Board of Directors awarded $10,108,207 in funding to support projects through the Community-Based Grants Initiative in the Western Prosperity Zone, $1.1 million in funding through the Economic Catalyst Program, and $998,924.36 in funding through the Open Grants Program. The Board also approved $428,976 in funding for the Center for Creative Leadership to provide leadership training for Golden LEAF Scholars.
Part of the Open Grants Program funding will go to Central Carolina for training equipment for a regional truck driving and logistics program providing Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) and short-term logistics courses. The $498,924.36 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. The project will serve Chatham, Harnett, Lee, Moore, and Randolph counties.
“A truck driving program can be pretty costly to start up,” RCC Vice President of Workforce Development and Continuing Education Elbert Lassiter said. “This collaboration and the Golden LEAF grant will help us offset that cost. Through this program, we can address the truck driver shortage in a shorter time span and address it regionally.”
According to the American Trucking Association, the current driver shortage has risen to 80,000 — an all-time high for the industry and including 12,000 in North Carolina alone, and could surpass 160,000 by 2030. To keep up with demand for freight, projected retirements, and other issues, trucking will need to recruit nearly one million new drivers in the next decade. Walmart recently announced that it is giving its 12,000 drivers a raise, upping the starting range for new drivers to between $95,000 and $110,000.
Golden LEAF Board Chair Don Flow said April 7’s awarded projects will bolster North Carolina’s communities that need the help the most.
“Today, the Golden LEAF Board awarded projects that represent all three funding priorities of the foundation: job creation and economic investment, workforce preparedness, and agriculture,” he said. “These projects will support the long-term economic advancement of rural, tobacco-dependent, and economically distressed communities. We look forward to the impact these projects will make for years to come.”
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. Golden LEAF has funded 1,989 projects totaling $1.18 billion over two decades.
On April 7, the Golden Leaf Board of Directors awarded $10,108,207 in funding to support projects through the Community-Based Grants Initiative in the Western Prosperity Zone, $1.1 million in funding through the Economic Catalyst Program, and $998,924.36 in funding through the Open Grants Program. The Board also approved $428,976 in funding for the Center for Creative Leadership to provide leadership training for Golden LEAF Scholars.
“Through this program, we can address the truck driver shortage in a shorter time span and address it regionally.”— RCC Vice President of Workforce Development and Continuing Education Elbert Lassiter |
“A truck driving program can be pretty costly to start up,” RCC Vice President of Workforce Development and Continuing Education Elbert Lassiter said. “This collaboration and the Golden LEAF grant will help us offset that cost. Through this program, we can address the truck driver shortage in a shorter time span and address it regionally.”
According to the American Trucking Association, the current driver shortage has risen to 80,000 — an all-time high for the industry and including 12,000 in North Carolina alone, and could surpass 160,000 by 2030. To keep up with demand for freight, projected retirements, and other issues, trucking will need to recruit nearly one million new drivers in the next decade. Walmart recently announced that it is giving its 12,000 drivers a raise, upping the starting range for new drivers to between $95,000 and $110,000.
Golden LEAF Board Chair Don Flow said April 7’s awarded projects will bolster North Carolina’s communities that need the help the most.
“Today, the Golden LEAF Board awarded projects that represent all three funding priorities of the foundation: job creation and economic investment, workforce preparedness, and agriculture,” he said. “These projects will support the long-term economic advancement of rural, tobacco-dependent, and economically distressed communities. We look forward to the impact these projects will make for years to come.”
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. Golden LEAF has funded 1,989 projects totaling $1.18 billion over two decades.