Northampton Community College (NCC) received a $100,000 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Energy for America program to serve agricultural producers and rural small businesses in Pennsylvania by providing on-site renewable energy assessments through the Emerging Technology Applications Center (ETAC) at NCC.

The ETAC team at NCC will travel across Pennsylvania to provide businesses with economic and technical assessments of their operations, facilities and equipment. It’s the fourth grant ETAC has been awarded under the program.

ETAC received the highest-ranking score in the United States on the grant application. NCC was the only submission to receive funding in Pennsylvania.

Dr. John Barkanic, ETAC consultant at NCC, said, “In today’s environment, national grant opportunities are highly competitive. This is a testimony to Northampton Community College’s vision to foster growth of in-house technical expertise and retain a talented grant-writing team.”

Information on ETAC and the grant program: Dr. John Barkanic, 610-861-5381; jbarkanic@northampton.edu