The Valley Proteins second annual $10, 000 Award for Workforce Development, awarded through the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education, will go to Paul D. Camp Community College.

The annual award from the Valley Proteins Endowment Fund is designed to support workforce development programs at Virginia’s Community Colleges in the areas of environmental science, commercial truck driving, heating and air conditioning and office technology in regions where the company has its rendering operations.

Paul D. Camp Community College’s division of workforce development will use the award to provide up-to-date audiovisual and remote meeting capabilities in the “technology theater” at the Regional Workforce Development Center at the college’s Franklin Campus.

The technology theater is used for hosting classes, training sessions and meetings with participants at remote locations and is increasingly in demand. The site also serves as the evacuation shelter for Western Tidewater.

“The division of workforce development at Paul D. Camp Community College is very grateful to the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education and Valley Proteins for this most generous grant,” says Randy Betz, vice president of workforce development at the college. “This new technology for our Regional Workforce Development Center’s Technology Theater will enable us to serve our regional businesses and organizations with top quality audio-visual conferencing capability.”

“This grant will enable us to dramatically upgrade technologies for interactive video capabilities,” said PDCCC President Doug Boyce. “In these tight budget times, this is a huge help.”

“As our industry continues to move forward with using technology, so does the need for our workforce to move forward with it,” said Michael A. Smith, vice president at Valley Proteins. “In today’s busy lifestyle, we hope the technology allowing students to work from remote locations will assist full-time workers to take advantage of the ability to further their education.”

Valley Proteins operates 12 plants in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. Its processing facilities recycle food waste materials into usable products and bio fuels for feed and industrial applications.

The first award was given in 2008 to Southside Virginia Community College to support workforce development programs there.