The North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission awarded Southeastern Community College (SCC) $374,500 for development of a greenhouse that will support the agriculture program. The state-of-the art structure will make way for advancing agriculture, horticulture, and animal science research.

SCC will use the funding to support a brighter future for agriculture education in Columbus County by building a greenhouse that will expand hands-on job training for agriculture and horticulture students, and facilitate community outreach and support. The greenhouse will be vital to classroom learning to promote growth in Columbus County and surrounding areas in southeastern North Carolina.

The Tobacco Trust Fund Commission Grant program supports projects that assist counties with facility enhancements, college research and educational opportunities, commodity groups with marketing and farmers with operations improvements and diversification. “The North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission is pleased to support the continued development of the SCC agriculture program with this greenhouse,” said Bill Teague, Chairman of the NCTTFC. “Our commission commends and encourages all students that are perusing higher agriculture education.”

“Agriculture has become a high-tech field and the possibilities are endless when we can deliver high-quality, hands-on training with state-of-the-art equipment for our students,” said Dawn Hinshaw, SCC Agribusiness Technology Instructor. “The new Greenhouse is going to be a sustainable tool that will help our county thrive as we prepare students for agricultural practices that have been changing throughout our state. While you may not see equipment like SCC’s greenhouse on all farms in our county, we know that we must prepare our students and workforce for future opportunities.”

The new state-of-the-art greenhouse will be located on the campus of Southeastern Community College with construction to begin in Spring 2023.

“We are excited about the future of Agriculture and Horticulture training in Columbus County,” said Dr. English, President of SCC. “We are grateful for the funding support made possible by the NC Tobacco Trust Fund Commission. This is another great example of two organizations partnering together for a common goal to open doors to opportunities.”