Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Staff Contact:

Director of Public Relations &

Minority Concerns

DCC SETS GRAND OPENING FOR NEW RCATT FACILITY

DANVILLE, VA, Oct.25, 2005 - The long-awaited opening of Danville Community College’s Regional

Center for Advanced Technology and Training (RCATT) will be held on Monday, October 31 at the new RCATT facility located at 121 Slayton Avenue in the Cyber Park. The ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at noon, followed by tours of the facility from 3:00 – 6:00 p.m.

The program includes greetings and remarks from a variety of governmental, educational and political leaders, including Fifth District Congressman Virgil Goode; State Senator Charles Hawkins; and Delegates Robert Hurt and Danny Marshall. Others on the program are Linda Green, President, Dan River Business Development Center; Dr. Richard Hinkley, Executive Director of the National Coalition of Advanced Technology Centers; Peter Blake, Virginia’s Secretary of Education; Whittington Clement, Partner, Hunton & Williams, and member of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; and Ben Davenport, President of First Piedmont Corporation.

Other guests include Danville Mayor John Hamlin; William Fitzgerald, chair, Halifax County Board of Supervisors; Coy Harville , Chair, Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors, Chris Lumsden, Chair, State Board for Community Colleges; and Shahnaz M. Ahmed, Member of the State Board for Community Colleges; Richard G. Barkhouser, Chair of the DCC Board; and Landon R. Wyatt Jr., Vice Chair, DCC Educational Foundation Board; and Linwood Wright, Board Chair, Institute for Advanced Learning and Research.

The Regional Center for Advanced Technology and Training (RCATT) is part of DCC’s Division of Workforce Services. The facility is a 24,000-square-foot building that was built to provide a facility dedicated to strengthening the workforce and providing a competitive edge in the region’s economic development. The RCATT building includes space for polymer processing equipment, rapid prototyping Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) equipment, Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) equipment, electronics, and

industrial maintenance laboratories in three high bays; classrooms; a computer lab; faculty office space; and an auditorium equipped for distance learning.

The construction costs for the RCATT facility was approximately $3.5 million. Funding came from the Virginia General Assembly (general funds), the localities of Danville and Pittsylvania County, and private sources such as the Danville Lions Foundation as a result of a $1.1 million gift from the Grant Trust.