The North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission has awarded a $25,000 grant to Vance-Granville Community College to support students in a pair of training programs.

The grant, for a project entitled “Cultivating and Growing Agricultural Communities,” will help cover the cost of tuition and other fees for eligible students in the “NC REAL Agricultural Entrepreneurship” and “Heavy Equipment Operator” courses offered by VGCC. Grant funding will also support instructional staff, marketing and supplies related to the programs.

VGCC has offered the Agricultural Entrepreneurship program at various locations, most recently at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market and the Granville County Expo & Convention Center. Heavy Equipment Operator training is held at VGCC’s Warren County Campus.

While this is the first grant of its kind awarded to VGCC, the college has previously received grants from the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission as part of “Project Skill-UP.” As in those previous grants, the commission’s goal is to help individuals and communities adversely affected by the decline of tobacco-related employment in the region.

“We appreciate that the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission chose to support our agricultural efforts to help adults in our service area to gain new skills and in some cases, to start new careers or businesses,” said Kyle Burwell, VGCC’s coordinator of Human Resources Development.

The seven-week NC REAL Agricultural Entrepreneurship course is designed specifically to help local farmers and budding entrepreneurs succeed in developing profitable, environmentally-sound small farms or agricultural businesses.

One of VGCC’s newest programs, Heavy Equipment Operator training takes approximately 13 weeks to complete. During the course, students gain a general understanding of the requirements necessary to operate equipment such as a motor grader, a four-wheel drive loader and backhoe, which are used both in construction and in agriculture.

Students receiving grant funding must meet certain eligibility requirements and must be residents of Vance, Granville, Franklin or Warren counties. Each student can receive up to $250.

For more information on receiving assistance and the opportunities available at VGCC, contact Kyle Burwell at hrd-wk@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3276.

For more information on the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission, visit www.tobaccotrustfund.org.