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Ten NC community colleges will receive bioscience grants

Forsyth Technical Community College is one of ten schools that will receive federal grants to bolster the life science industry. Photo courtesy Forsyth Tech.

Forsyth Technical Community College is one of ten schools that will receive federal grants to bolster the life science industry. Photo courtesy Forsyth Tech. 

The State Board of Community Colleges has approved just over $15 million in funding to support life science programs in ten schools.

The funding from the federal Build Back Better Regional Challenge Grant will also include over $1 million for system office administration.

The idea is to bolster the life sciences industry by preparing a talent pool from across the state while expanding opportunities for underserved communities. The board said there is a need for skilled workers in the industry, citing the growing number of bioscience companies that plan to locate or expand in North Carolina.

In the Piedmont Triad, Forsyth Technical Community College will receive nearly $2 million over a three-year period.

According to Education NC, the program is one ingredient in a newly unveiled strategic plan for the state’s community colleges, which also includes hiring a new system president.

It will complement a second federal grant geared toward expanding the state’s apprenticeship program.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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