LCCC receives endowment for scholarships, renames building

SCHNECKSVILLE, Pa., Nov. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Lehigh Carbon Community College unveiled two key additions to the college and the community with the announcement of a $1.575 million endowment for technology scholarships from donors Lisa Scheller and Wayne Woodman, and the naming of the Lisa Scheller-Wayne Woodman Community Services Center.

The endowment gift will provide technology scholarships to students of Lehigh Career & Technical Institute and Carbon Career & Technical Institute entering any one of more than 40 technology fields at LCCC that can also matriculate to the bachelor of applied science in technical leadership, a joint program of LCCC and Bloomsburg University.

Keynote speaker and U.S. Senator Patrick Toomey offered remarks. "We're going to continue to create great jobs, great opportunities, great prospects for growth," said Toomey. He explained how the endowment for technology scholarships will go directly to providing people with training during what he called a manufacturing renaissance across Pennsylvania, and how it will "create an opportunity, for especially young men and women, to develop the training, the knowledge, the skills that will allow them to walk into and become really productive participants in this terrific economic revolution that's happening across the Commonwealth."

Ellen Kern, Chief of Staff for State Senator Pat Browne and the Chair of the LCCC Foundation Board of Directors, presented citations and gifts to the Scheller family, and Pennsylvania State Senator David Argall read from a Senate Citation. U.S. Congressman Charlie Dent also addressed the attendees, noting the importance of the scholarship and its impact on the Lehigh Valley. He explained during the worst moments of the recession in 2008 and 2009, the National Association of Manufacturers presented a study citing over 600,000 jobs in manufacturing and industrial sector that were unfilled because of a lack of people with the skills available to fill those jobs.

"Ultimately, the jobs will go to where the skills are. If the skill sets aren't here those jobs will not be in America, they will be in China or India or some other place, but they will not be here. And that's why what Lisa and Wayne are doing here is so important; they're investing in human capacity, our human potential and helping to develop our human infrastructure right here in our community, right here at LCCC," said Dent.

LCCC recently conducted an Economic Impact Study, funded by the LCCC Foundation, which indicated students with an LCCC Associate Degree will earn approximately $500,000 more in their careers than a high school graduate. The study also indicated 95-99% of LCCC students typically stay within the state of Pennsylvania.

LCCC's president, Dr. Ann D. Bieber said the economic impact the endowment will have on the community will be a lasting one felt throughout the entire region and the state for years to come. "The generosity of Lisa Scheller and Wayne Woodman will greatly affect the students of the Carbon Career and Technical Institute, Lehigh Career and Technical Institute and Lehigh Carbon County Community College," said Dr. Bieber. 

"On behalf of Lehigh Carbon Community College, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the both of you for this investment in today's and tomorrow's students from LCTI and CCTI as they enter the technology studies at LCCC," added Dr. Bieber.

Lisa Scheller is CEO of Silberline Manufacturing, an international corporation. She serves as chair of the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners, serves on the board of directors of the Aluminum Association, and has previously held board positions in various trade organizations, and the Manufacturers Resource Center of the Lehigh Valley. She is also a past member of the Board of Trustees of Cedar Crest College. In addition, Scheller participates in the Women Entrepreneurs Group and the World Presidents Organization.

Wayne Woodman serves as the Senior Vice President of The Investment Group of Los Angeles, California and is the immediate past chairman of the Lehigh County Republican Party.

Lehigh Carbon Community College serves 13 sponsoring school districts in Lehigh and Carbon counties. The college has been in operation for nearly 50 years. Its mission is to respond to the community with high quality education thru open access and affordability. In order to fulfil the mission, the college has 4 goals: transfer education, career and technical education, life-long education, and basic skills instruction.

LCCC serves the community with five sites, including a site at Lehigh Valley International Airport. Beginning August 2003 the college extended its offerings to Schuylkill County, with a location at the John E. Morgan Higher Education Center in Tamaqua. In addition, distance learning classes have taken LCCC's educational offerings to students' homes and offices throughout the region and beyond. LCCC serves more diverse ethnicities than any other college in the Valley, and serves a population of over 22,000 credit and non-credit students.

Lehigh Carbon Community College Foundation
The Lehigh Carbon Community College Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation founded in 1975 to provide charitable financial support for Lehigh Carbon Community College. With an endowment of over $14 million and growing, the LCCC Foundation's mission is to turn student aspirations into reality through education. A volunteer board of 24 regional business leaders steers the LCCC Foundation to raise charitable funds supporting more than $350,000 in scholarships for LCCC students, and other activities that may be beyond the college's operating budget.

Founded in 1966, Lehigh Carbon Community College serves more than 7,500 students from Lehigh, Carbon, Schuylkill, and surrounding counties offering more than 90 programs of study including healthcare, information technology, criminal justice, education, and business administration. From the main campus in Schnecksville and modern sites in Allentown, Tamaqua, Jim Thorpe and Lehigh Valley International Airport, Lehigh Carbon offers two-year associate degrees, certificate and specialized diploma programs, and workforce training for students studying either full time, part time or online.

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SOURCE Lehigh Carbon Community College

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http://www.lccc.edu