Beaufort County Community College will be leveraging Connect NC state bond funds to get more project funding from the federal government.

At Monday night’s meeting, the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners approved BCCC’s request to move forward with applying for an Economic Development Administration grant that would help build the school’s driving pad and public safety training facility. The total cost of the facility is $6,161,576; an award of the competitive grant would require a 50-50 match in funds from the county — funds awarded to the college through the Connect NC bond that was passed by referendum in the March primary.

“These grants are not easy to get, but through the jobs we create and the partnerships we have across our region, we are a strong candidate for it,” said Julie Crippen, grant writer for BCCC.

During the meeting, Crippen made the argument that now is the time to take advantage of the EDA grant. Because of Hurricane Matthew’s impact on eastern North Carolina, the region has been catapulted to a higher priority and would be more likely to get approval. Other grant requirements include having money to leverage for the grant and that the funds be used to serve a region, as opposed to a locality. Both of those are satisfied in that BCCC serves students within a broader region and already has Connect NC funding to leverage, according to Crippen.

The pursuit of available grants corresponds with the commissioners’ request that the college move its Beaufort County Skills Center from the county industrial park back to the BCCC campus. According to county officials, companies have inquired about the facility and moving the Skills Center’s workforce training lab and classroom space to campus would further economic development in the county. BCCC administrators recommended the gym and classroom space in the continuing education building (Building 8) be relocated to the proposed public safety facility, and the Skills Centers’ workforce training lab and classroom space be moved into Building 8’s gym space. This would involve two additional classrooms and two additional offices added to the public safety training facility plan, but also would allow fire and police physical fitness training to take place in the same facility as the classroom training, according to BCCC’s proposal.

With a short timeline, BCCC officials asked the county to move forward with the EDA grant application, at a cost of $25,000. The application must come from the county, as opposed to the college.

Crippen pointed out that with the federal grant, the county could be off the hook for various BCCC projects — largely having to do with maintenance — that have been postponed for lack of funding.

“We are excited to find ways to stretch our Connect NC funds,” BCCC President Barbara Tansey stated in a press release. “The commissioners asked us to find a grant for the public safety training building and to free up the Skills Center. We want to help the county in any way we can. If we can get this grant, it will redirect Connect NC funds to help the county eliminate some of its maintenance backlog at the college.”