Duke Energy Foundation aids South Carolina workforce with $200,000 in grants for veterans, underserved groups. | File
Duke Energy Foundation aids South Carolina workforce with $200,000 in grants for veterans, underserved groups. | File
Ten veterans and underserved organizations in South Carolina are on tap to receive roughly $200,000 in Duke Energy Foundation grants aimed at strengthening the local workforce.
The donations are all part of the Charlotte, North Carolina, company’s commitment to “building and enhancing strategic engineering initiatives that will help grow the energy industry's workforce,” according to a company press release by Cision PR Newswire.
Over the last five years, the company has invested at least $1.6 million in programs designed to create access to training and needed job skills.
"We have a long history of targeting investments to have the greatest impact for our communities," Mike Callahan, South Carolina president for Duke Energy, said in the release. "Part of that tradition has been a focus on helping to build a diverse workforce for the Palmetto State. These grants build on that by helping expand access to training opportunities for our nation's military veterans as well as minority and underserved communities.”
Callahan added that he views the project as a win-win situation.
“It is critical to continue that tradition and help strengthen the workforce pipeline needed to fuel the state's economic engine now and in the years to come," he said.
Working hand and hand with top state officials in coordinating the area’s ongoing clean energy transformation, the Duke Energy Foundation continues its mission of investing in programs that will build the next generation workforce as well as create access to training and job skills that fit current community needs.
"Because of committed and trusted partners like the Duke Energy Foundation, the USO Southeast Region can continue to impact transitioning service members and their spouses in South Carolina with networking opportunities and educational transition programming, helping military families create a plan for success now – and for the future" Raymond Whitaker, director of operations for the USO Southeast Region, said in the release.
Among the grant recipients at Upstate Fatherhood Coalition ($5,000), Brothers Restoring Urban Hope, ($10,000), American Association of Blacks in Energy ($15,000) and the University of South Carolina, ($56,000).
In all, The Duke Energy Foundation contributes more than $30 million annually in charitable gifts and is funded by Duke Energy shareholder dollars.
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