October 26, 2009
For Immediate Release

RCCC Uses Grant to Help Tobacco Workers

             KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and its R3 Center are using grants of $60,000 from the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission to provide career assistance to local tobacco workers, their family members and local businesses adversely impacted by changes in the tobacco industry.

              The grant funds are part of the Project Skill-UP program of the N.C. Community College System. The objective of Project Skill-UP is to provide education and training for individuals in the tobacco industry, including career exploration activities, achieving educational credentials, and job placement. In 2008, RCCC received an initial $40,000 Project Skill-UP grant.

              RCCC's Kannapolis-based R3 Center is working to identify and recruit persons, family members and businesses in Cabarrus and Rowan counties who are facing negative circumstances caused by significant shifts in the tobacco industry.

              The R3 Center offers workshops on workplace readiness and career development and conducts individual career counseling sessions. In addition, the R3 Center assists individuals in achieving career readiness certification, a national credential program that helps job applicants show proof of their basic skills to employers.

              R3 Center counselors work personally with clients under the grant to assess their need for additional training and/or education. Once clients have developed individual employment plans, they are eligible to apply for a Project Skill-UP scholarship to assist them with short-term training.

              Scholarship funding is still available. Areas of training popular with Project Skill-UP clients have included certified nurse assistant, pharmacy technician and RCCC's JobsNOW certificate programs.

              The N.C. General Assembly created the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission in 2000 to help members of the tobacco community - including farmers, tobacco workers and related businesses - lessen the impact of declining tobacco production. In establishing the commission, legislators recognized the strong role agriculture, tobacco in particular, has played historically in the state's economy.

              RCCC's Board of Trustees heard a report on the college's Project Skill-UP activities at its Oct. 26 meeting. Jeff Jennings from the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund attended the meeting and addressed the trustees.

              Located at 164 Dale Earnhardt Blvd., in Kannapolis, the R3 Center is a career development center established by RCCC to assist workers who are unemployed or under-employed.

              The center's mission is built on three Rs - a refocus on individual skills and interests, retraining and further education, and partnering with other workforce development agencies to secure career-oriented re-employment.

              The R3 Center helps adult workers assess and profile their skills, aptitudes, training and academic credentials, and explore future career interests to develop a plan for career growth.

              The R3 Center partners with other workforce development agencies, including the Centralina Workforce Development Board, JobLink Career Centers of Cabarrus and Rowan counties, N.C. Employment Security Commission and other area community colleges.

              For more information about the R3 Center and its services and programs, including Project Skill-UP, call 704-216-7201, or visit the center's website at http://www.rowancabarrus.edu/r3center/.

               RCCC is a comprehensive, community-based institution of higher learning, serving the citizens of Rowan and Cabarrus counties in North Carolina. RCCC is one of 58 colleges in the state-supported North Carolina Community College System.

                RCCC offers fully-accredited associate-degree programs in more than 40 areas of study, including arts and sciences, business, information technology, health and public services, and engineering technologies. RCCC also offers accredited diploma and certificate programs focused on career training, continuing education and basic skills education. RCCC provides a strong foundation and transferable credits for students moving on to four-year colleges and universities and helps adults get the additional training they need to start new careers.

               RCCC annually provides more than 2,000 course offerings, serving an overall enrollment of approximately 20,000 students. In addition, RCCC provides the education and job-training programs needed to meet many of the workforce demands of the North Carolina Research Campus being developed in Kannapolis. For complete details, see the RCCC website at www.rowancabarrus.edu.