| For Release: IMMEDIATELY |
Contact: Public Affairs |
| Date: November 20, 2000 |
Centura Bank contributes $50,000 to the
North Carolina Community Colleges Foundation
ROCKY MOUNT- Centura Bank has donated $50,000 to the Capital Campaign of the North Carolina Community Colleges Foundation. The announcement came from Cecil Sewell, Chairman and CEO of Centura Bank. Sewell is also is a member of the North Carolina Community Colleges Foundation board of directors.
In making the announcement, Sewell said "There are two distinctly different goals for learning institutions and they are education and training. Rarely do these reside in the same place. Centura recognizes that our community colleges offer both. The education programs provide an affordable way for North Carolina citizens to further their academic studies. Simultaneously, the community colleges also design specific training classes that meet the needs of new and existing businesses in their respective geographic areas to ensure a pool of skilled employees. Centura is proud to support the communities we serve by investing in the future of our community college system."
Stephen P. Zelnak, Jr., chairman of the board of directors for the North Carolina Community Colleges Foundation, responded enthusiastically to the generous pledge. "We are excited about Centura Bank's generous gift to the campaign. The banking industry relies on the resources North Carolina's community colleges provide, and their support is so important to the System's ability to sustain and develop programs for their industry".
Centura Bank is a financial services company that is the result of more than 40 bank mergers dating from 1899 to the present, taking on the name Centura in 1990. Centura offers a full rage of financial solutions for individuals and businesses designed to make a difference in their lives. They are headquartered in Rocky Mount, NC, and are ranked in the top 75 largest U.S. banks by American Banker, with assets of more than $11 billion and over 4,000 employees. Centura’s mission is to be the primary provider of all financial services for each client, and they are committed to helping their clients achieve all of their financial goals.
The North Carolina Community Colleges Foundation was established in 1986 to help sustain the mission and programs of the North Carolina Community College System. After several dormant years, the Foundation was reorganized in 1998 under the leadership of H. Martin Lancaster, president of the North Carolina Community College System, and Lt. Gov. Dennis A. Wicker, former chairman of the State Board of Community Colleges. Gov. James B. Hunt, Jr. and President Lancaster recruited J. Gregory Poole, Jr., chairman emeritus of Gregory Poole Equipment Company, to head the new board of directors, whose members include top leadership from business and industry, philanthropy, education and government. Stephen P. Zelnak, Jr., chairman and CEO of Martin Marietta Materials, took over as chairman in March of 2000.
The Foundation is conducting its capital campaign to raise at least $5 million for an endowment to fund system-wide efforts on behalf of community colleges. Endowment income will be used to improve the effectiveness of the System; promote the benefits of community colleges; and educate, reward and motivate executive leadership and faculty to lead the state’s community colleges into becoming the most effective, efficient educational institutions in the nation. To date, the Foundation has raised more than $3.4 million in pledges and contributions.
The North Carolina Community College System, with more than 759,000 students, is the third largest community college system in the United States. It includes 58 comprehensive community colleges and the North Carolina Center for Applied Textile Technology. The System is the state’s primary agency for delivery of job training, literacy and adult education programs.
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