Edgecombe Students Complete Clean Vehicle Pre-Apprenticeship

Nine Edgecombe Early College High School students completed STEPs4GROWTH (S4G), a clean energy workforce development program, at Edgecombe Community College this summer. Shown from left are Johanna Reyes Lopez; Zander Harrison; Yari Leyva-Sabalza; Jorge Ayala-Nunez; Rhonda High, S4G regional coordinator; Weiland Smith; Dr. Balakrishna “Balu” Gokaraju, S4G principal investigator; Dr. Gregory McLeod, ECC president; Darryl Strother, energy resources operation manager for the City of Rocky Mount; Paige Webb Ashman, S4G student support specialist at ECC; Selwyn Spence, occupational extension programs administrator at ECC; Molly Turner; Ava Cherry; and Kyla McLeod.

Edgecombe high school students met for eight weeks at Edgecombe Community College this summer to learn about clean energy through the STEPs4GROWTH: EV Pre-Apprenticeship Program.

Nine Edgecombe Early College High School students completed the program that met on the Tarboro campus of ECC.

STEPs4GROWTH is a clean energy workforce development project funded by a grant from the US Department of Commerce and led by NC A&T State University.

With the clean energy industry continuing to expand, demand is growing for workers with specialized skills and training. STEPs4GROWTH focuses on four clean energy sectors: energy efficiency, renewable energy, clean vehicles, and grid and resiliency.

The program held at ECC focused on clean vehicles. Students earned certifications in OSHA 10, Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt, Working Smart, and Pre-Apprenticeship through ApprenticeshipNC. Students also received a weekly stipend.

According to Paige Ashman, STEPs4GROWTH student support specialist at ECC, “Our students completed 96 hours of EV-related coursework as well as 80 hours of on-the-job training. During their 176 hours of instruction, they assisted the City of Rocky Mount with the installation of a charging station on ECC’s Rocky Mount campus, received hands-on training in the electrical field, gained in-depth instruction on electric vehicles and their charging methods, test drove electric-powered go-karts, attended a Tesla car show, and built their own mini-EV remote control car.

“I am extremely proud of them for the commitment and hard work they put into this program and can say with confidence that they learned a tremendous amount about the clean vehicle industry.”

“Edgecombe Community College is pleased to be a partner in the STEPs4GROWTH program,” says ECC President Dr. Greg McLeod. “The initiative’s focus on job training in the clean energy sector is critical to preparing a highly skilled clean energy workforce of the future.”