Montgomery County Community College was recognized for its commitment to sustainability and promoting a green economy of the future recently.

Jacqui Baxter-Rollins, Executive Director of The Partnership TMA of Montgomery County, presented Kyle Longacre, Dean of Workforce and Economic Development, with the platinum sponsorship recognition award for MCCC’s support of its “Electric Vehicles Lunch and Learn Event,” held Friday, June 11, at Parkside Place Pavilion in North Wales.

“We were delighted to partner with Montgomery County Community College for our electric vehicle lunch and learn event,” said Baxter-Rollins. “It was wonderful coming together with a mutual commitment to sustainability. Partnership is in our name and it’s in the way we work every day. We work with more than 150 private and public sector partners and deliver a wide range of products and services.”

Longacre accepted the award on behalf of MCCC in front of MCCC’s green parking lot featuring electric vehicle charging stations and solar panels on the Blue Bell Campus.

The Partnership Transportation Management Association of Montgomery County (PTMA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that collaborates with public and private sector partners to ease traffic congestion, enhance transportation options, educate and engage the community on the issues of land use, the environment and healthy lifestyles.

The Lunch and Learn event focused on grants, rebates and incentives available for municipalities and other organizations to install electric vehicle charging stations and purchase new fleet vehicles to replace diesel engine trucks and buses.

“We are grateful to have community partners like The Partnership TMA, who are championing strong sustainability efforts,” said Longacre. “We are very appreciative of this award.”

Longacre said it was important for the MCCC to support green initiatives like the Electric Vehicle Lunch and Learn event.

“In our economic development efforts, we want to keep that theme of sustainability and a green economy front and center,” he said. “That’s been a strength for the College. We want to encourage and support businesses, non-profits, and municipalities, to innovate and grow their sustainability systems, especially related to transportation.”

Longacre said he’d like to see MCCC become a leader in developing the future workforce in the electric car industry.

“The goal is to help support the transformation and electrification of the transportation industry through training in our region,” he said. “We want to be a leader in that area.”

The Lunch and Learn event is just the latest example of ways MCCC promotes sustainability and green technology. Additional environmentally forward thinking projects including the charging stations at Pottstown Campus, project INNOVA – a hydrogen fuel cell-powered urban concept vehicle created by a team of engineering students,  the installation of electricity-generating turbines at Pottstown Campus, as part of MCCC’s Guaranteed Energy Savings Agreement with Siemens Industries, Inc., and the purchase of three electric utility vehicles for the facilities team on the Blue Bell Campus.

“For MCCC to be a consistent and innovative through our examples of utilizing green and sustainable technology in all avenues, it gives us a home field advantage for our students, for our partners, for potential business connections to embrace the evolving transformation being seen in the energy economy,” said Longacre. “We want to be in this space to help lead this conversation. We are consistently looking for more partners to join us in these pursuits.”