The Centralina Workforce Development Board is proud to announce that eight more local employers have been awarded Incumbent Workforce Development Program grants. Approval for grants for Thomasville Furniture, Vanguard Supreme, Kewaunee Scientific, Meridian Automotive Systems, Steele Rubber, Tube Specialties, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, and Windsor Windows and Doors was made by the Centralina Workforce Development Board (WDB), through funding from the NC Commission on Workforce Development. The Centralina WDB has made a total of $243,801 in local economic investment with these businesses. Since August 2004, the Centralina WDB has provided almost a half million dollars in economic development investment with 15 area employers in our seven counties through the Incumbent Workforce Development Program.

Thomasville Furniture has facilities in Troutman and in Hickory. Thomasville Furniture
manufactures residential furniture including upholstered furniture, case goods and contracted
furniture. Training for employees will include, Leadership Training, Soft-Skills Training, and Lean
Manufacturing. Mitchell Community College will provide the training to 353 Thomasville
employees at the two plant locations.

Vanguard Supreme, located in Monroe, is a circular knitting machinery manufacturer. The machinery is used by textile mills to manufacture cloth for underwear and outerwear as well as specialty fabrics. Training for employees will include, Leadership Training, Six-Sigma Training, and Lean Manufacturing. South Piedmont Community College and North Carolina State University-Industrial Extension Service will provide the training and train 116 Vanguard employees.

Kewaunee Scientific Corporation is located in Statesville. The company designs, manufactures and installs wood and metal scientific and technical furniture. Training Manuals will be developed along with Job Safety Training and Train the Trainer Program. Mitchell Community College and ProSource Industrial Training Inc. will provide the training and will train 84 Kewaunee employees.

Meridian Automotive Systems is located in Salisbury. Meridian Automotive is a worldwide leader in the automotive and truck industry. ISO14001 Training will be provided to employees as it has proven to be a means of limiting waste reduction in the manufacturing operation. North Carolina State University-Industrial Extension Service will provide the training for 386 Meridian employees.

Steele Rubber Products, Inc. is located in Denver, NC. Steele Rubber manufactures automotive rubber parts. Training for employees will include Effective Communication Training, Curriculum Development, and Barefoot CNC Training, and Team Leader Training. Catawba Valley Community College, ProSource Industrial Training Inc., and Barefoot CNC Company will provide the training for 54 Steele Rubber employees.

Tube Specialties Company, located in Statesville, is a complete fabrication company that has been the industry leader for Tube Bending, Pipe Bending, Tube Fabrication, Pipe Fabrication, Tube Punching, Tube Forming, Powder Coating and Tube Welding. Mitchell Community College will provide training for employees in basic math, conversions, basic geometry, basic metrology, visualization, basic blueprint reading, and reading and following simple instructions for 115 Tube Specialties employees.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is located in Statesville. The company manufactures vent less
tire molds for the North American Tire Division of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.
Mitchell Community College, Behavioral Science Technology, Fanuc America Corporation and
Ridge Communications will provide training in the areas of safety training, maintenance training,
welding training, tooling and fixturing, PowerPoint, "Train the trainer" and Ridge Communication
skills for 86 Goodyear employees.

Windsor Windows & Doors Inc. is located in Monroe. The company builds wood, vinyl, and
cellular PVC windows and patio doors. Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Value Stream Mapping,
Quality Manufacturing, Communication skills, Problem Solving and Supervisory training will be
provided to employees by South Piedmont Community College and North Carolina State-
Industrial Extension Service for 90 Windsor Windows employees.

The guidelines and application process for the Incumbent Workforce Development Program can be found at www.centralinaworks.com/whatshot.cfm. The application is in a Word format for easy processing. The upcoming application period begins February 1 and runs through March 31, 2005. For more information please contact David Hollars at dhollars@centralina.org.

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On Tuesday, March 8, 2005, David Hollars, executive director of the Centralina Workforce Development Board, along with Jeanie Moore, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College Vice-President for Continuing Education and Dr. Nick Gennett. Pillowtex Project Coordinator for the college, will be a featured presenter at the National Conference of The League for Innovation in Community Colleges in New York City. The two-year National Emergency Grant (NEG) funded initiative to retrain thousands of area former Pillowtex workers at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and its broad based community collaboration efforts will be the focus of the presentation. The conference is attended by thousands of community college professionals from throughout the country and is focused on highlighting innovative practices that are worthy of emulation by other community colleges. Given the fact that coping with displaced workers is an issue currently being faced by communities in every sector of the country, it is most appropriate that our local experience be viewed as a national model of what can be done under these unfortunate circumstances. Likewise, it is truly an honor to have the hard work, which has been done by so many in our community, recognized by the invitation to present at this prestigious national conference. For more information about The League for Innovation in Community Colleges Conference please visit http://www.league.org/welcome.htm.