Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) announced plans today to name the new dining lab in the College’s future culinary facility on Central Campus the Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation Dining Room. The naming comes as a result of a generous gift made earlier this year by Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation to the College’s culinary program. The grant, totaling $180,000, will be used to acquire equipment for the new building and endow a scholarship for culinary students.

The new culinary facility will be built at the corner of Kings Drive and 7th Street along the Little Sugar Creek Greenway. Plans are currently underway for this state-of-the-art facility that will house the College’s programs in culinary technology, and hotel and restaurant management. This highly successful program will now have an opportunity to expand with the new facility, which is slated to be complete in 2009.

“We are extremely appreciative of the generous gift by the Piedmont Natural Gas Foundation to CPCC,” stated Dr. Tony Zeiss, President of CPCC. “The gift to our culinary program will allow us to provide our students with the equipment and technology they need to be competitive in the culinary business. The support for scholarships also enables us to encourage more students to pursue their dreams in this profession.”

"Playing an active role in the development of the communities we serve is an important element of our Company’s mission,” stated Kevin M. O’Hara, Senior Vice President of Corporate and Community Affairs for Piedmont Natural Gas. “We value this opportunity to work with CPCC in an effort to provide resources that will assist current and future students in preparing for culinary careers."