Contributed photo | Cascades Tissue Plant Manager Eric Taylor (third from left) presents a $25,000 donation to RCC President Dale McInnis (left) and RCC Forte Building Steering Committee Co-chair Thad Ussery and RCC Foundation Executive Director Olivia Webb for expansion and renovation of the Forte Building on campus. To show its appreciation through naming rights, the college has named the Industrial Systems Technology Program after the industry. The program will greatly benefit from the upgrades.

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For Eric Taylor, Plant Manager of Cascades Tissue in Rockingham, the value of expanding Industrial Systems Technology training at Richmond Community College is clear.

“You need many different skill sets to work in manufacturing today,” said Taylor. “You need to know computers just as much as you need to know the mechanical side, and you need to be able to think critically and solve problems. In order to operate, we need people that have those skills; this is why the training they can receive at RCC is so important.”

The company’s $25,000 commitment to the Forte Building Capital Campaign will support the expansion and renovation of the facility, which houses the Industrial Systems Technology program. It will allow for increased teaching capacity and course offerings so that RCC students will have more options for Industrial Systems training at their disposal.

“We are extremely proud of our partnership with Cascades,” said RCC President Dale McInnis.

“Mr. Taylor has led the way for Cascades to establish a significant scholarship for RCC students and a substantial academic award for Richmond Early College High School graduates; he worked with us to ensure that criteria for both of those awards were designed to encourage innovation and academic achievement in manufacturing-related fields.

“This most recent gift will provide for critical enhancements to the Forte Building, and we want to show our sincere appreciation through naming rights to the Cascades Industrial Systems Technology Program,” McInnis said.

As co-chair of the Forte Building Steering Committee and a member of the RCC Foundation Board of Directors, Thad Ussery said he was thankful for and impressed by the many ways in which Cascades gives back.

“Cascades has always been and continues to be an excellent corporate citizen,” said Ussery.

According to Taylor, that is a main component of the company’s core culture.

“We believe in giving back to the communities that we operate in,” he said. “I am glad that we can help make this project a success for RCC, and I hope that other companies will do the same.”

For more information about RCC or the RCC Foundation, visit www.richmondcc.edu.