CCCC - News

SANFORD - The Central Carolina Community College Board of Trustees unanimously elected Ed Garrison, of Sanford, as its 2010-11 chairman during the board's summer meeting July 28 at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center.

Garrison said he sees the role of the community college as three-fold. First, because it is located in the communities among the people it serves, it lowers the educational financial burden on families. Second, it enables students to obtain educations that will provide immediate employment or enable them to go on to further education. Third, it provides retraining opportunities for displaced workers, enabling them to be gainfully employed, provide for their families and regain their dignity.

"We need to make sure that our college is abreast of the changes in the economy in order to provide students with the necessary curriculum for the job skills for a changing society," he said.

Garrison was first appointed a CCCC trustee by the Lee County Board of Education in 2004 and reappointed to another four-year term in 2008. He has served on the board's Finance Committee since 2004 and also serves on the CCCC Foundation Board of Directors. He is the vice president/branch manager of Davenport & Co., a financial advising firm in Sanford.

Garrison holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of North Carolina. He started his financial career in the Charlotte office of the U.S. Treasury Department. He moved to Sanford in 1970 and has been an active member of the community since then. He service includes: founding member of the Lee County Committee of 100, Lee County Elections Board, Sanford Area Chamber of Commerce, member and past president of the Kiwanis Club of Sanford, and member of St. Luke's Methodist Church.

The board also welcomed new members Chet Mann, of Sanford, and the Student Government Association President Kelvin Puckett, of Goldston, the non-voting student representative to the board. Susan Thomas, Lee County Clerk of Court, administered the oath of office to Mann, Puckett and two reappointed members, Bill Wilson and Julian Philpott, both of Sanford.

The Lee County Board of Education appointed Chet Mann to the board of trustees for the 2010-2014 term. He fills the position vacated by John Bonardi, who served on the board from 2008-2010, until his election to the Board of Education.

Mann has served on advisory boards for the college, YMCA of Lee County, and Job Ready Partnership, Lee County Arts & Community Center, Lee PTO Thrift Store, and Ducks Unlimited. He is chairman of the Lee County Education Foundation. In 2007, Mann was the YMCA Volunteer of the Year.

He is the senior mortgage banker at PrimeLending and vice president and co-owner of Carolina Specialty Cutting Tools, Inc., both in Sanford. He graduated from Lee Senior High School in 1984 and earned a bachelor's degree in economics from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1989.

Kelvin Puckett was appointed by the state legislature to serve a one-year term as the student representative on the board of trustees. He came to Central Carolina C.C. to upgrade his skills in computer numerical control (CNC) machining and decided to stay and earn an Associate in Applied Science degree in Machining Technology. He is a member of Central Carolina Toastmasters.

Puckett is a professional rabbit breeder, raising 10 difference breeds on his farm in Goldston. He is a member of the American Rabbit Breeders Association, American Federation of New Zealand Rabbit Breeders Association, Sandhills Rabbit Fanciers Club, and the North Carolina Rabbit Breeders Association.

Governor Jim Hunt first appointed Bill Wilson to the college's board of trustees in 1994. Each governor since then has reappointed him, making Wilson the longest continuously serving member of the board. He has served two terms as board chairman, from 2004-2006.

He has practiced law in Sanford since 1977 and is a partner in the law firm of Wilson & Reives. He serves as attorney for the Sanford Housing Authority and legal advisor to CEAD. Wilson is a member of the board of Brick Capital Development Corporation and past board member of United Way of Lee County and the Sanford Area Chamber of Commerce. He is also a past president of the Kiwanis Club of Lee County. Among the awards he has received are "Volunteer of the Year," from Gov. Hunt in 1993; and the "1996 Member of the Year" and "2002 Small Business Person of the Year" from the Sanford Area Chamber of Commerce.

Wilson has a bachelor's degree from N.C. A&T University and a Juris Doctor degree from N.C. Central University School of Law. Before earning his J.D., he served as a captain in the U.S. Army.

Julian Philpott is in his second four-year term as a member of the board of trustees. He was first appointed to the board in 2006 by the Lee County Board of Commissioners and has been reappointed to serve through 2014.

Philpott is secretary and general counsel for the North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation and its affiliated companies. He represents the Farm Bureau before the state General Assembly and other federal, state and local government agencies. He serves as vice chairman of the N. C. Present Use Value Tax Advisory Committee.

Philpott is a past chairman of the board of directors of Lee County Communities in Schools, and as a member of the Diaconate and the Session of First Presbyterian Church of Sanford.

The state General Assembly gives community college boards of trustees the responsibility of governing their colleges. The board selects the college president, who is the chief administrative officer. The president serves under the board and runs the college in accordance with board policies.

The 17 members of the Central Carolina C.C. board are appointed to four-year terms by various government agencies: four each by the governor, Lee County Board of Education, and Lee County Board of Commissioners; and two each by the Harnett and Chatham counties boards of commissioners. The student member is appointed by the state legislature each year.

CCCC trustees elect new chairman, swear in new, reappointed trustees

Susan Thomas (left), Lee County Clerk of Court, swears in new and reappointed members of the Central Carolina Community College Board of Trustees at the board's July 28 summer meeting. Pictured (from second left) are Julian Philpott, reappointed to the board by the Lee County Board of Commissioners; Bill Wilson, reappointed by Gov. Bev Perdue; Chet Mann, new appointee by the Lee County Board of Education; and SGA President and student trustee Kelvin Puckett, appointed by the state legislature.

The Central Carolina Community College Board of Trustees held its first meeting of the 2010-2011 school year July 28 at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center. The members are (front, from left) new member Chet Mann, of Lee County; Dr. Tracy Hanner, of Chatham County; Jan Hayes and Doug Wilkinson Jr., of Lee County; Frank Stewart, of Harnett County; Bobby Powell and Bill Wilson, of Lee County; and Kelvin Puckett, new student representative to the board, Chatham County; (back row, from left) R.V. Hight, Julian Philpott, and Ophelia Livingston, of Lee County; CCCC President Bud Marchant; George Lucier, of Chatham County; and Ed Garrison and Tony Lett, of Lee County. Not pictured are trustees Frances Warner, of Lee County; and Tim McNeil and Clem Medley, of Harnett County.

Ed Garrison, of Sanford, 2010-11 Central Carolina Community College Board of Trustees Chairman

The Lee County Board of Education appointed Chet Mann to the board of trustees for the 2010-2014 term.

Kelvin Puckett was appointed by the state legislature to serve a one-year term as the student representative on the board of trustees.

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CCCC trustees elect new chairman, swear in new, reappointed trustees

08.10.2010 • Admin, Faculty & Staff