RALEIGH – The BlackRock Foundation awarded $1 million to expand the Careers Electric apprenticeship program into eastern North Carolina and broaden electrical-trades training opportunities statewide.
The grant will support an expansion of Careers Electric Summer Academies, which pair high school students with community college coursework, industry-recognized credentials, work-based learning and employers.
The Governor’s Office said 220 students completed the program at 12 North Carolina community colleges this summer. Sites included Blue Ridge, Central Carolina, Central Piedmont, Cleveland, Forsyth Tech, Isothermal, Pitt, Rockingham, Surry, Vance-Granville, Wake Tech and Wayne community colleges.
The state said the $1 million grant will extend the academy model into eastern North Carolina, where electrical-workforce demand and training capacity needs are especially acute. It also will support statewide career-pathway work and allow more students to participate.
NCBCE and its partners plan to add sites in 2027. The announcement did not provide a final site count, enrollment target or job-creation estimate for the expansion.
BlackRock said the North Carolina program was one of 15 organizations selected from more than 1,000 applications in the first round of its Future Builders national grant competition. The company awarded more than $13 million in the round, supporting programs expected to reach more than 5,400 people in 26 states.
Axios independently reported that the grants cover more than a dozen skilled trades and are intended to expand apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship opportunities.
The North Carolina investment is a workforce-development award, not an announced employer expansion. Its immediate business consequence is added training capacity for electrical careers and a broader pipeline connecting community colleges, high school students and employers.
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