The Giles County Board of Supervisors is pleased to announce that the Giles County Access to Community College Education Program (ACCE) has received national recognition.  In a letter from the National Association of Counties dated June 13^th, County Administrator Chris McKlarney was informed as follows.

The National Association of Counties (NaCo) is pleased to grant Giles County a 2016 Achievement Award for its program titled “Access to Community College Education (ACCE)” in the category of Community/Economic Development.  Congratulations to everyone involved, who were able to help develop this innovative program!  Your hard work will yield positive results for Giles County.

ACCE enables any Giles County Student who graduates from high school, with a minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.5, to attend New River Community College (NRCC) with no tuition expense.  (Students may be from public, private or home schools.) The student must maintain a minimum 2.5 GPA during college.  The student may achieve an Associate Degree, a trade certificate or, trade certificates that lead to an Associate Degree. Up to 60 credit hours may be paid by ACCE. Students may attend college for two years.  In return, the student must provide 80 hours of community service to the Giles Community each year they attend NRCC.

ACCE is a result of collaboration between the Giles County Board of Supervisors, New River Community College, Giles School Board, Giles County Administrator, Superintendent of Schools, School Department Staff, ACCE Committee, Giles Community Service Coordinator, Giles Special Projects Coordinator and most importantly, the generous Giles County business community and citizens.

ACCE is a workforce development initiative and its’ purpose is to elevate the educational levels of a rising, young workforce.  A better educated and more highly skilled workforce will not only be attractive to our present employers, this workforce will also play a major role in attracting new business to Giles, stated County Administrator McKlarney. Board of Supervisors Chairman Ricky McCoy added, An ultimate objective of ACCE is the development of more moderate and high-paying jobs for our citizens. More good jobs will lead to a quality of life enhancement; positively impacting all aspects of life in Giles County.”

The class entering NRCC in the fall of 2016 will consist of 20 sophomores and 41 freshmen and mark the second year of ACCE students.

In addition to the above recognition, this past January, Giles received notification that it was selected to receive the Virginia’s Community Colleges’ 2016 Chancellor’s Award for Leadership in Philanthropy on behalf of New River Community College.

ACCE is funded totally by Giles County, the Giles Business Community, Giles Citizenry, and various fundraising activities; including the upcoming Muddy ACCE Race.

For more information about ACCE, contact County Administrator Chris McKlarney at 540-921-2525 or cmcklarney@gilescounty.org