Foundation Receives Walter G. Bumphus Excellence in Leadership Award

The Rapides Foundation received the Walter G. Bumphus Exellence in Leadership Award at the Louisiana Community and Technical College Foundation’s Impact Awards on September 25. The Impact Awards spotlight individuals, organizations, businesses and industries whose leadership efforts have been notably effective in advancing Louisiana’s education and workforce needs within the LCTCS system.

The Walter G. Bumphus Excellence in Leadership Award recognizes those who have advanced innovative strategies to improve opportunity and excellence in higher education and have demonstrated leadership qualities that have been central to the achievement of substantial improvements in higher education.

The Rapides Foundation was recognized with the award because of its partnership with the Central Louisiana Technical and Community College to advance manufacturing training within the Central Louisiana region.

The Rapides Foundation in late 2017 awarded a $2 million matching grant to the LCTCS Foundation to be used by CLTCC to establish the Central Louisiana Manufacturing Technology Center in downtown Alexandria and to expand its manufacturing programs located on campuses throughout the region. The state of Louisiana matched the Foundation’s funding with a $2 million Rapid Response grant.

The Foundation’s funding will be used over a three-year grant term to strengthen the manufacturing core curriculum, create pathways to generate a larger pipeline of students, increase work-based learning opportunities, expand specialized processes for programs such as welding, purchase training and distance learning equipment, and develop an outreach plan to drive enrollment and deliver graduates for the high-wage, high-demand, high-skill jobs in the manufacturing sector throughout the Central Louisiana region.

The Rapides Foundation’s grant is part of its Economic Development Initiative, which supports the Foundation’s mission to improve the health status of Central Louisiana by making the link between healthy economies and healthy people. Healthy economies with low unemployment rates and higher wage jobs provide people with the means to purchase medical insurance, make better healthcare choices and live healthier lifestyles. The initiative aims to raise the standard of living in Central Louisiana by improving the region’s capacity to produce higher wage jobs for all income levels. Print