Center for Environment Seeks Matching Funds
For Air Quality Initiative

The Center for the Environment is seeking $272,000 in matching funds from interested sponsors for its regional Clean Air Initiative.

This amount represents over 20 percent of the entire $1,224,000 million budget for the initiative. If the required matching dollars are secured, the North Carolina Department of Transportation, through a four-year grant, will reimburse the Center for the remaining 80 percent of the cost for this effort.

“Securing commitment for these matching funds is essential to the success of our air quality efforts,” says Dr. John Wear, Center executive director. “We have a rare opportunity to dramatically increase our impact by leveraging over $1 million in public funding.”

The Center began its Clean Air Initiative in 2004, when it assumed a leadership role in the effort to reduce ground-level ozone in our region. Numerous experts in the field of air quality have visited the Catawba College campus to dialogue with government officials, community leaders, and concerned citizens about approaches to mitigating air pollution, which affects the health of area citizens and the health of the economy.

These presentations and discussions have sparked tangible steps by local government, local school systems, and businesses in addressing our air quality challenges. Salisbury Mayor Susan Kluttz has testified to the influence of the Center in helping the city implement or improve upon concepts such as fleet management and the development of walkable communities through sidewalks and greenways. In addition, the Rowan-Salisbury school system was able to retrofit 100 buses with diesel oxidation catalysts through grant funding identified by the Center.

“We at Catawba College are most pleased and proud to have received this grant from the North Carolina Department of Transportation,” says Dr. Craig Turner, president of Catawba. “Not only does it show the high regard the state has for our Center for the Environment, but it also allows us to make a difference for the people of our region. Dr. John Wear and the staff at the Center for the Environment are excited and anxious to continue their work to improve the air quality in this area.”

“We would never have received this DOT grant without the sponsors who invested in the early efforts of our Air Quality Initiative,” says Wear. “Their support has made this possible.”

The original investors include: F&M Bank, SunTrust Bank, Wachovia Bank, First National Bank, Bank of North Carolina, Power Curbers Inc., County of Rowan, City of Salisbury, Fred & Alice Stanback, the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, the Blanche & Julian Robertson Family Foundation and Catawba College.

Paul Fisher, chairman of the board and CEO of F&M Bank and newly elected chair of the Catawba College Board of Trustees, says the grant is recognition of the success of the Air Quality Initiative begun five years ago. “F&M was pleased to have joined other banks, companies and foundations in 2003 that had the vision and foresight to understand there were air quality problems and that Catawba, through the Center for the Environment, was in a unique position to make a real difference in this real problem.

“The grant validates our early thoughts and confirms our early mission,” Fisher says. “Now the center is on the front lines in fighting poor air quality, and very well should be. The center earned the right to be there. We are duty bound to follow through.”

Wear explains that the grant will allow the center to increase its educational efforts and activities on this important issue. The center already has a vast regional and statewide network of organizations that have served as partners in its efforts during the past several years, he says. In addition, the recent conference on Faith, Spirituality and Environmental Stewardship gave the center the opportunity to build grassroots support through North Carolina’s faith community.

The new funds will allow the Center for the Environment to bring in experts who can offer various viewpoints on air quality-related topics, which will provide valuable information for those involved in community planning and development. The center will get input from different entities, including government officials and community groups, on potential topics and speakers.

It will also expand its Clean Air Initiative to include an educational component designed specifically for the public schools.

Part of the educational process will involve encouraging Rowan County leaders to take primary roles in making the changes needed to stem air pollution, says Wear. “It’s got to start with us, regardless of whether we are the primary causes of the pollution. Then it’s up to the center to take that model to the surrounding counties because, in truth, it’s going to take us all to solve the problem.”

He quotes Gandhi: “Be the change you want to see in the world.” That willingness to take a leadership position, says Wear, can catalyze change that will help solve the problem.

Catawba students also stand to benefit from this project because they will have increased opportunities for internships and added exposure to a variety of experts on air quality-related issues.

“I am thrilled about having all these experts on our campus,” says student Dan Robertson. “When we had the last Clean Air Lecture Series, it was one of the most valuable experiences I have had. Not only did the lectures allow us to further our knowledge of a specific environmental issue; they also allowed us to see how what we were learning in class was being applied in the ‘real world.’”

If you are interested in being a sponsor of the Regional Air Quality Initiative, please contact Jay Laurens, at 704-637-4295.