Patrick & Henry Community College (P&HCC) is one of five community colleges awarded a Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission (TRRC) grant for workforce training programs. P&HCC will use the $129,527 grant for expanded electrician training via a mobile training lab.
P&HCC has experienced great growth in both employer demand and enrollment in building trades programming in the last two years, and is working on planned expansions of multiple building trades training programs. P&HCC will bring training to students with barriers that prevent or make it difficult to travel to the college’s main campus. TRRC funding will support equipment needed to offer expanded electrician training and Greenlee/NC3 certifications. This equipment will be housed in an existing mobile trailer and will be used at P&HCC’s Patrick County site, The Franklin Center, and to serve the Henry County Adult Detention Center, in conjunction with classroom space at each location. Students participating in training in the mobile lab can earn up to 11 industry recognized certifications.
“P&HCC began offering training with embedded Greenlee certification programming in April 2023 and has had great success with the program,” said P&HCC Vice President for Workforce, Economic, and Community Development Rhonda Hodges, adding, “We anticipate being able to serve 40 students each year through the mobile lab.”
In addition to preparing electricians to work in the P&HCC service region, localities will benefit from the mobile lab’s opportunity for more accessible training. This is particularly beneficial for residents of Patrick and Franklin County, many of whom may be prevented from receiving training due to transportation barriers. For incarcerated individuals in the Henry County Adult Detention Center, it represents an opportunity to earn training that is otherwise entirely inaccessible to them. For all participants, this training will provide training and industry recognized certifications for an in-demand career path. Individuals with electrical training will positively impact a variety of building trades employers, who report the need for trained employees, in all localities.
