LCC awarded $1.98M for machinist center
Mark Lineberger, staff writer
©Kinston Free Press

Lenoir Community College is receiving a $1.98 million Golden Leaf grant to build a state-of-the-art machinist training shop at the Global TransPark Education and Training Center.

The center will be the only one of its type in Eastern North Carolina, said Bobby Merritt, director of industrial training at Lenoir Community College.

"This is the result of an initiative to get a training center started," Merritt said. "We'll have the machine testing and metal forming training programs that are required by the aerospace industry."

The school initially sought funds to help train students with state-of-the-art equipment to replace retiring employees from the Naval Aviation Depot at Cherry Point, Merritt said.

With the recent announcement that aircraft manufacturer Workhorse Aviation will be setting up shop at the GTP, the timing couldn't have been better, Merritt said.

"There are other industries in the area that could benefit from this as well," Merritt said. "There's probably not going to be another one like it in the state."

The $1.98 million dollar Golden Leaf award is part of a larger grant to North Carolina State University and eventually, another community college in the western part of the state, said LCC President Brantley Briley.

The Golden Leaf Foundation was created in 1999 to help use tobacco settlement money for development projects in tobacco-dependent communities.

N.C. State eventually will work with the center to help certify the equipment made there, Merritt said.

"This is a prime example of what can be done when local entities partner together without worrying about who is going to receive the credit," Briley said. "This is a win-win situation, not only for the college but for the training center and all of Eastern North Carolina."

Merritt said the school plans to begin setting up machinery at the education center by June, with the first training classes to start in the fall semester.

"The Global TransPark Education and Training Center was designed for this type of innovative program," said Lonnie Blizzard, interim director of the Center. "It's going to be good for the region and we're very pleased to have it here."

Mark Lineberger can be reached at (252) 527-3191, Ext. 251, or mlineberger@freedomenc.com.