From Beaufort County Community College

Greg Coltrain will be filling the position left vacant by the passing of Dr. Charles Boyette in March 2016 as board chair for the Beaufort County Community College Foundation. Helen Sommerkamp Inman began the April 19 meeting with a eulogy for Dr. Boyette, a man she worked with closely over the years during their time together on the board. The BCCC Foundation awards scholarships to students attending the college and handles grants from outside institutions. Last year the Foundation helped reduce the debt burden on students and made quality education even more accessible at BCCC by awarding 112 scholarships totaling more than $85,000.

During their meeting, the BCCC Foundation board elected Coltrain as the new board chair. Dr. Boyette had held the position for 31 years. This makes Coltrain only the second board chair in the Foundation’s existence. Inman was elected to stay on as vice chair of the board.

Greg Coltrain began his career at TriCounty Telecom as the information systems coordinator in 1997. Prior to being named general manager/CEO in January 2011, he held positions of customer service supervisor, customer service manager and operations manager, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the company. Coltrain holds a pre-liberal arts degree in business from Beaufort County Community College.

He has continued his education in telecommunications technologies through various continuing education opportunities, seminars and workshops. In 2010, he led TriCounty through the largest project it had ever seen with an approximately $16 million fiber-to-the-home expansion. He currently serves as the executive director of the TriCounty Foundation, vice-chair of the Beaufort County Bright Futures Board, vice-chair of the North Carolina Access-On Network Board, serves on the board of the North Carolina Coalition of Telephone Cooperatives and the board of the Carolina Virginia’s Telephone Membership Association. With over 22 years in the Telecom and Broadband industry, he continues to encourage state-of-the-art technologies in our rural area. He and his wife Tiffany, along with their six children, live outside of Belhaven and are members of First Baptist Church in Washington.

The meeting featured speeches from Lisa Reid and Karen Taft, two of the Foundation ambassadors. Ambassadors must be nominated by faculty and receive a one-year tuition scholarship. They help market BCCC’s programs and services. Ambassadors must submit a resume and go through an interview process. Lisa Reid will be going on to East Carolina University this summer with the intention to become a marriage and family therapist. When she was considering returning to school, she said, “the world of technology had changed since my time in the corporate world, so BCCC made sense” as a college to reboot her education. Karen Taft had made several attempts at college, but was not successful until enrolling at BCCC. She said she appreciated the small class sizes. Her mathematics instructor, Gretchen Thompson, helped her overcome her fear of math. She said that BCCC had “given her a chance to fulfill [her] dream.”

Serena Sullivan, executive director of the BCCC Foundation, reported that the Foundation initiated three new scholarships and two new endowments over the last year. She also gave reports about the cost effectiveness of this year’s Gullfest Spring Scholarship Festival over last years. She also discussed the plans for the upcoming golf tournament the Foundation will host as a fundraiser on Oct. 21. There will be a dinner the night before at the Washington Yacht & Country Club.

BCCC will dedicate a memorial tree to Dr. Charles Boyette at 10 a.m. on May 25 in honor of his service to the college. New members of the board will be initiated on July 1, at which time outgoing board members will step down.