HAMLET — Richmond Community College has secured three years of customized training funding for Cascades Tissue-Rockingham, which is in response to a planned multi-million-dollar investment in capital improvements over the next several years by the local manufacturer.
The investments include facility improvements, reliability initiatives, infrastructure upgrades, and safety enhancements. The funding RichmondCC secured through the state’s NCEdge program will facilitate safety, technical, leadership and continuous improvement training.
“This will be our second customized training project with Cascades in Rockingham,” said RichmondCC President Brent Barbee. “They found enough value working with us the first time that they returned to the table to continue this partnership that aims to grow the company’s productivity and operations.”
Cascades operates three facilities in Richmond Community College’s service area, including a pulp plant in Rockingham that makes egg flats. Cascades Tissue brings in recycled fibers and removes the ink and dyes to make into large rolls of recycled paper in Rockingham. Wagram is the converting plant that turns the large rolls into toilet paper, napkins and paper towels.
“We are grateful for our partnership with Richmond Community College and their assistance in securing funding through the NCEdge program. We are especially grateful to (NCEdge Regional Director) Emily Hansley and (RichmondCC Customized Training Director) Leighton Bell for their collaboration throughout the process. Their expertise, responsiveness, and hands-on support from start to finish made the application process straightforward and easy to navigate. This investment in workforce development will help our employees build new skills, expand their industry knowledge, and receive advanced safety training, positioning both our workforce and our organization for continued success,” Human Resources Manager Jessie Jacobs said.
Cascades Tissue-Rockingham previously participated in the NCEdge Customized Training Program and successfully utilized workforce training resources to strengthen technical, leadership, safety, and operational capabilities throughout the organization. Prior projects included leadership development, confined space rescue training, PLC instruction, electrical training, forklift safety, root cause analysis, OSHA-related training, and Microsoft Excel training.
For more information about NCEdge and whether your industry may qualify, contact RichmondCC’s Director of Customized Training Leighton Bell at 910-410-1775 or lwbell@richmondcc.edu.
