Duke Energy awards STEM grants

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Emphasizing the importance of workforce development, literacy, and science, technology, engineering and math, Duke Energy has awarded more than $660,000 in grants to 16 programs across the Palmetto State.

The grants are administered through the Duke Energy Foundation, which provides philanthropic support to communities served by Duke Energy, with a focus on “K to Career” educational and workforce development initiatives, the environment and community impact, according to a news release.

“Our ‘K to Career’ grants go to a diverse group of organizations across our state that are dedicated to training the workforce of the future and giving our young people the skills they will need to lead our state in the years to come,” Kodwo Ghartey-Tagoe, South Carolina state president for Duke Energy, said in the release.

Recipients this year include:

• AIM: To support workforce training programs that help equip individuals with the necessary skills to earn a livable wage and develop self-sufficiency.
• Anderson Districts 1 & 2 Career and Technology Center: To support programs designed to educate students in robotics design, programming and use in industry.
• Clemson University Women in Science/Programs for Educational Enrichment and Retention (PEER): To provide continued support to programs that provide camps for minority engineering majors, and to provide camps, encouragement and support to women pursuing careers in science and math.
• Francis Marion University: To support the expansion of the university’s engineering program to include mechanical engineering.
• Northeastern Technical College: To help ramp up the college’s electrical technician program to help meet the need for electrical technicians in Chesterfield, Marlboro and Dillon counties.
• Public Education Partners: To continue and expand an innovative program that provides a pathway into the teaching profession for people with bachelor’s degrees in math and science.
• Roper Mountain Science Center: To expand STEM-based learning labs to students in Anderson, Pickens and Spartanburg counties.
• South Carolina Robotics Education Foundation: To help students develop STEM skills by expanding FIRST Tech Challenge robotics teams to Title 1 schools throughout Duke Energy’s service territory.
• South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities: To provide scholarships for STEM majors at independent colleges and universities in Duke Energy service areas.
• South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind: To support the Really Cool for My School Book Club, a literacy initiative that helps to foster the love of reading for students by supplying large print and braille books to take home.
• Spartanburg Community College: To address regional workforce development issues in Cherokee County for individuals who have barriers to employment.
• Tri-County Technical College: To support hands-on training in partnership with School District of Oconee County for students in engineering and mechatronics.
• United Way of Pickens County: To continue and expand the successful “Camp iRock” summer literacy program.
• Upcountry History Museum: To support hands-on literacy adventures that will take visitors on a journey around the world as they explore faraway places and cultures through beloved classic stories.
• Upstate Warrior Solution: To support workforce development for Upstate veterans by teaching them skills that will allow them to enter the civilian workforce at a livable wage.
• Youthlink: To support afterschool programs with an explicit goal to provide students with project-based STEM experiences for economically disadvantaged and underrepresented elementary and middle school students.

The Foundation annually funds more than $33 million to communities throughout Duke Energy’s seven-state service area. In 2017, the company donated more than $2 million to nonprofit organizations in South Carolina, according to the release.