Nash Community College outlines $22 million health‑sciences project and asks county for operating support

Nash Community College officials presented the institution's FY27 budget ask to the Nash County Board of Commissioners on May 12, emphasizing student growth, workforce training and a planned $22 million health sciences building.

Dr. Honeycutt, who led the college's presentation, said the college now serves a record number of students and stressed its regional workforce role. "Last full year we served 22,434 students ... and as of today we've already surpassed last year's record, 22,750 students," he said. He highlighted the college's career and technical programs and recent SkillsUSA success: "we won our largest number of medals at 31, 8 of those were gold medals." He also invited commissioners to a ribbon‑cutting and tour of a grant‑funded emergency medical services mobile unit set for May 26.

Carol Dorranceief, the college's chief financial officer, presented line‑level details of the request. The college's total county ask for FY27 is approximately $4,000,000.92 (a 5.95% increase over the prior year), she said, including $2,000,208.57 for plant operations and a proposed 3% salary increase for full‑time staff. Dorranceief listed several cost drivers: anticipated medical premium increases, a $165,000 boiler replacement, and a planned increase in utilities. For part‑time staff the college proposed raising pay to a minimum of $15 per hour.

Dorranceief also outlined capital and maintenance plans covered by existing fund balance and state or gift funds. She said capital upgrades (windows, roof replacement, parking‑lot paving) would be funded from a combination of the college's fund balance and prior allocations; the college estimated an available fund balance of roughly $508,000 after planned capital expenditures. She asked the county to consider paying half the salary for a proposed executive director of facilities, safety and risk to strengthen construction supervision and maintenance coordination.

On capital projects, Dr. Honeycutt described the next major building as a "health sciences building" costing about $22,000,000 and designed to centralize nursing, medical assisting, physical therapy and CNA programs in modern facilities. "It allows us to place our medical fields ... into state of the art facilities," he said, noting the project would rely on a mix of federal, state and local sources plus a capital campaign.

Commissioners asked about enrollment projections; Honeycutt replied that three‑year growth rates have accelerated from about 2.2% to roughly 6.5% year‑to‑date but cautioned that facilities might constrain future growth. He forecasted roughly 10% growth over the next decade under optimistic assumptions.

The college's presentation described recent, debt‑free capital work — a veterinary technology annex and a driver‑training center on county‑donated land — and asserted a local economic impact the college estimated at about $86,000,000 annually. Officials said many projects had been completed without new borrowing and that the board hopes to keep the campus debt free.

The commissioners took no funding votes during the session and adjourned the community college portion to resume the joint agenda with the school district.