City of Greenville representatives presented a $20,000-check to Pitt Community College President Lawrence L. Rouse Thursday to fund an educational partnership that’s been helping local residents in financial need learn skills that lead to jobs.

Including the funds presented this week, the Greenville City Council has approved a total of $100,000 for PCC’s Outreach & Community Engagement initiatives since the 2018-19 academic year. Pitt has used that funding to provide short-term certificate training to nearly 430 students.

“The Greenville City Council and other city leaders have demonstrated on many occasions that they realize and value PCC’s contributions to local workforce development,” Rouse said. “We have a great partnership, and it’s improving the lives of people in our community.”

Greenville City Manager Ann Wall agreed.

“Growing the economic hub of eastern North Carolina is one of the goals of our city leadership and, in order to do that, we have to bring jobs to the area,” she said. “We are pleased to continue to partner with Pitt Community College to help them grow a workforce that is ready to step into those jobs.”

Ernis Lee, PCC Assistant Vice President of Outreach & Community Engagement, said Greenville’s financial support has offset the cost of educational expenses for individuals training for jobs in construction trades, including plumbing, welding, masonry and HVAC. He said it has also assisted students pursuing short-term certificate programs, like pharmaceutical technician and Nurse Aide I and II.

Lee said the training’s purpose is to provide students fundamental skills they can use to enter the local workforce.

“PCC reached out to area business and industry about training needs and heard time and time again how important it was for prospective employees to have at least a basic foundation of skills on which to build when they first apply for jobs,” Lee said. “As long as they have that baseline when they’re hired, the companies say they can provide additional on-the-job training to get new workers fully up-to-speed.”

Gail Nichols, director of PCC CIT Continuing Education, says funding the Greenville City Council has allocated to Pitt has been “a blessing” to the community. She said it has made it possible for the college to offer training to people who would have otherwise been unable to take classes due to financial constraints.

“It's such a pleasure when you tell a student they can take a class they really want in order to get a job, because PCC has money from the City of Greenville,” Nichols said. “This money is providing the needed training for our citizens to get jobs and contribute to our community.”

For more information on PCC’s short-term certificate options, prospective students may contact Nichols at (252) 493-7625 or [email protected].