[August 16, 2011] The Pilot Center receives funding to add classrooms Tweet Aug 16, 2011 (The Mount Airy News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- PILOT MOUNTAIN --Thanks to a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission of $300,000 and another $75,000 grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation, more classrooms will be added to The Pilot Center. Pilot Mountain Mayor Earl Sheppard said two classrooms are being added to the already overcrowded facility and another industrial area will be added where classes such as welding and heating and cooling technology will be taught. He said the town received the $300,000 from the ARC, which requires matching funds. He said Surry Community College is putting $225,000 toward the project and the additional $75,000 came from Golden LEAF. "Hopefully we will start construction down there in September. This will really make it a great campus. We are real excited," said Sheppard. Although the grant was awarded on Aug. 4, Sheppard said he was not notified until late last week. The Pilot Center is a satellite facility for Surry Community College. Greg Smith, director of The Pilot Center, said the funds will be used to build an additional computer lab because the one they have now stays busy all of the time. He said the way the room will be configured, it will be able to open up into an additional space where large meetings or large classes can be held. He said the industrial area will be designed to be a versatile space. "It will be customized for whatever industry training that may come up. It will be a shop space but we aren't going to lock it in for it to be just a welding shop, or just a small engine shop, we will have it versatile enough so that if a company comes to the county and we need specific training in electrical or a forklift or HVAC, we can ramp up pretty quick and do that training and then if some other topic comes up, we can change the room around and do that type training," said Smith. He said the space that will be renovated is 7,000 square feet. He said right now The Pilot Center offers CNA I classes, GED and basic computer classes. This week, curriculum classes are starting up. He said they offer intro to business, business math, principals of management, intro to sociology, Spanish II and developmental psychology. Classes started at The Pilot Center on Monday. Smith said things are moving right along at the center that opened up last spring. "We opened in June (of 2010) and really we were getting set up last summer. Fall picked up a little and then spring went real well. It's carried over in the summer and now into fall," said Smith. He said he is looking for some additional funding to be able to offer video conferencing in the new space so that classes can be video conferenced in from the main campus or any other location. He said they also are looking at putting a greenhouse on the property so that agriculture and horticulture classes can be offered. Dan Gerlach, president of the Golden LEAF Foundation, said from what he learned, the college has filled up and needs more classrooms. "The idea here is that there are manufacturing employers out there who need to get their employees trained in order to stay competitive and expand employment. That's a fitting reason for our investment here," said Gerlach. He said the Golden LEAF Foundation has given "a significant amount of funds" to the The Pilot Center and to Pilot Mountain Pride. Pilot Mountain Pride, which is located inside The Pilot Center building, provides a place for local farmers to distribute their produce for sale. "If you look at what's happening here. We are taking an old textile mill and turning it into a very modern training facility for the community college. They have more demand than they can handle. And the Pilot Mountain Pride is one of the best local projects in the state as far as generating funds for local farmers," said Gerlach. Contact Mondee Tilley at [email protected] or at 719-1930. To see more of The Mount Airy News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.mtairynews.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, The Mount Airy News, N.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]