ROCKY MOUNT, N.C., (June 5, 2025) – Today, the Golden LEAF Board of Directors awarded a total of $4.5 million in funding to support job creation and economic investment projects, workforce preparedness projects, and disaster relief work. The Golden LEAF Board awarded $2,113,986 to support three projects through the Open Grants Program and $1,536,120 to support one industrial park through the SITE Program. The Board also awarded an additional $940,000 for Hurricane Helene relief.
Following the devastation of Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina, the Golden LEAF Board established the Hurricane Helene Relief Initiative to make funds available for nonprofits working to support the needs of survivors.
Today, the Board approved an additional $940,000 to the North Carolina Baptists on Mission for rebuild efforts across the impacted region, bringing total Golden LEAF funding to that organization to $2,940,000. To date, the Board has awarded a total of $5 million through the Hurricane Helene Relief Initiative.
“The North Carolina Baptists on Mission and other Golden LEAF-supported organizations are providing vital assistance to communities recovering from the impacts of Hurricane Helene. From home repairs to volunteer coordination, their efforts are addressing urgent needs and helping residents restore safe and stable living conditions,” said Ralph Strayhorn, Golden LEAF Board Chair. “The Golden LEAF Foundation is honored to support these dedicated organizations as they carry out essential recovery work across North Carolina.”
The Board received an update on the selection of fifteen schools by the Department of Public Instruction and approved by the State Board of Education to participate in the Golden LEAF Schools initiative announced earlier this year. See this link to the release issued by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.
“Golden LEAF is proud to fund this bold, collaborative effort to improve student outcomes and build a stronger future for our state,” said Scott T. Hamilton, Golden LEAF President, Chief Executive Officer. “By investing in middle schools through research-based strategies and intensive support, we are not only strengthening academic achievement in critical areas like math but laying the groundwork for career readiness and long-term economic vitality in North Carolina’s rural communities.”
In April, the Golden LEAF Board began creation of a funding opportunity that would allow entities that are developing healthcare workforce training programs with a capital budget of at least $10 million to request up to $1 million in the Open Grants Program to cover the costs of training equipment and related capital expenses for those projects.
Today, the Golden LEAF Board awarded $1,000,000 to Barton College to support the expansion of its School of Health Sciences (SHS) complex. The project, to be completed in two phases, will result in a 70,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility designed to prepare top-performing healthcare professionals to serve rural communities.
Phase 1 of the project includes a $21 million renovation of the Nixon Nursing Building and Moye Science Building. A hospital-grade simulation center will serve as the centerpiece, alongside updated classroom and laboratory space to support the growing demand for healthcare education. This phase will enable Barton to expand its nursing and exercise science programs, increasing the number of graduates from 54 to 127 each year beginning in the 2029-2030 school year. Golden LEAF funding will be used to purchase advanced training and instructional equipment for nursing, exercise science, and biology programs. The investment builds on prior support from Golden LEAF and will allow Barton to further develop its BSN, MSN, and Nurse Practitioner programs to meet critical workforce needs in rural North Carolina.
The Golden LEAF Board awarded three projects totaling $1,113,986 in Open Grants Program funding. These projects will support workforce preparedness outcomes in Randolph and Wilson counties and job creation outcomes in Nash County.
- $500,000 to the Town of Nashville to extend a waterline to serve the planned site of UNC Nash Health’s new medical facility to house primary and urgent care services.
- $493,000 to Randolph Community College to establish a new Heavy Duty Equipment Training Program and provide training to students in existing programs including Agriculture and Construction Trades.
- $120,986 to Sallie B. Howard School of Arts and Science in Wilson County to enhance programs related to biotechnology through hands-on training, new lab modules, teacher training, and new year-round lab activities to support the needs of local employers.
The SITE Program offers resources to help communities identify potential sites for economic development, provides funding to complete due diligence on publicly controlled sites, and provides funding to extend public utilities to publicly controlled sites or to conduct clearing and grading of publicly owned sites. The three phases of the SITE Program are Identification, Due Diligence, and Development.
In the SITE Program – Development phase, the Golden LEAF Board awarded $1,500,000 to Northampton County to extend wastewater infrastructure to support development of a site in the Northampton County Commerce Park. The Board also increased a previously awarded SITE Program – Due Diligence phase award for this same park in Northampton County by $36,120 to allow completion of required historical and archaeological review, for a total of $1,585,320 in funding for this site.
Since 1999, Golden LEAF has funded 2,338 projects totaling $1.3 billion supporting the mission of advancing economic opportunity in North Carolina’s rural, tobacco-dependent, and economically distressed communities.