SANFORD - Central Carolina Community College celebrated the opening of its new West Harnett Center Automotive Restoration Facility with a ribbon-cutting event on Thursday, Aug. 9. The CCCC West Harnett Center Facility is located in Harnett County at 145 Olive Farm Drive, Sanford.

The 8,650-square-foot shell building was donated by Harnett County to CCCC during the fall of 2016. The CCCC Board of Trustees approved the use of $1 million in Connect NC Bond funds for the upfit and renovation of the space.

The facility will house the CCCC Automotive Restoration Technology and Collision Repair and Refinishing Technology programs. The space has two classrooms, two faculty offices, student break room, four large auto shop bays, a paint booth area, large shop storage area, and associated restrooms, mechanical, and IT spaces.

Dr. Jon Matthews, CCCC Harnett Provost, introduced dignitaries attending the event and presented a brief history of the Automotive Restoration program.

Jim Burgin, Vice Chair of the CCCC Board of Trustees, noted: "Look around at the people here. This is fantastic. This is a combination of the county, CCCC, the school system, and just a lot of interested folks working together to get something like this to happen," he said. "This is just a wonderful thing."

"This is about partnerships," said CCCC President Dr. T. Eston Marchant. "This is about working together to ensure that the students in Harnett County have the best education facilities that they can have. This doesn't happen by accident."

Dr. Marchant praised county officials for working together in making sure that those individuals who walk into the new facility have the best possible opportunity to train, to make a good living, to remain in Harnett County, and to become productive citizens. "This is very, very, very important -- and I thank each and every one of you for it," said Dr. Marchant.

Among the special guests were officials from the RPM Foundation (RPM), which has contributed funds for the paint booth area of the new facility as well as giving funds for scholarships in the Automotive Restoration program. RPM is an education grant-making program of America's Automotive Trust (AAT). RPM is funded by collector vehicle and classic boat enthusiasts to serve youth and young adults on their pathways to careers in automotive/marine restoration and preservation along with the long-term interests of the collector vehicle and classic boat communities. Visit rpm.foundation for more information.

For more information on Central Carolina Community College and its program, visit www.cccc.edu.