On Friday, August 4, the Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) Construction Academy held its graduation ceremony at the CVCC Corporate Development Center. The CVCC Construction Academy is one of the Construction Boot Camps which were offered among ten community colleges in the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS). The NCCCS partnered with each college and the Carolinas Association of General Contractors (CAGC) to provide funding and support for these programs.

Graduates included Carlos Andrade; Jacob Austin; Eric Binzha; Jonathan Boyd; Coy Bryant; David Bushatz; Leonel Callejas-Mendoza; Joshua Catterton; Kevin Chavez; Logan Cheatham; Joshua Cline; Zackory Evans; Edwin Godoy-Perez; Jose Ibarra; Benjamin Isserman; Noah Jamison; Evan Latchford; Fernando Lemus-Almanza; Nathan Maroulis; Jack Mikeal; Ryan Parham; Willie Parks; Jay Ramirez; Nathanel Richards; Daniel Russell; Matthew Schrader; and Seth Yang.

A total of 80 people, including family, friends, and the college’s business partners, attended the ceremony. Andrew Gardner, Associate VP of Workforce Strategies at the NCCCS, was primarily involved with connecting these North Carolina Community Colleges to the proper educational resources, so that each construction academy could provide high-quality education and a promising construction career.

Through the CAGC Foundation, Inc.’s partnership with NCCCS and colleges such as CVCC, higher education institutions and the business world are constructing a gateway for students to earn professional credentials. They are also providing the opportunity for local industry to fill the gaps in their current workforce.

For more information about the CAGC Foundation, Inc., and the Construction Boot Camp, please visit https://www.cagc.org/Construction-Bootcamp/Home.aspx. For more information about Catawba Valley Community College’s Construction program, visit www.cvcc.edu or contact Gary Muller at gmuller@cvcc.edu or Chris Reese at creese147@cvcc.edu.