Beaufort County Community College, the BCCC Foundation and the Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the recently completed electronic sign in front of the college.

Speakers included Dr. Barbara Tansey, president of BCCC; Kate Phelps, Washington market president for Wells Fargo Bank; Dr. Laura Staton, chair of the BCCC Board of Trustees; Greg Coltrain, chair of the BCCC Foundation; Chelsea Huggins, BCCC student ambassador; and Serena Sullivan, executive director of the BCCC Foundation.

“This sign will offer new students a first impression of the college as a modern institution and help us recruit potential students driving past the campus,” Tansey said. “We must stay on par with or ahead of regional community colleges if we are to continue attracting students to our campus.”

Designed by architect John Farkas of JFK Architecture, the dramatic sign evokes subtle images of the area’s rich heritage. It is 16 feet wide and 20 feet tall, highlighting the BCCC campus from both directions along U.S. Highway 264. Constructed of materials that reflect the campus architecture, the sign encompasses 5-by-10-foot digital message boards on both sides. Programmable full-color boards present high-definition messages that change to promote college activities and provide useful community information.

Hundreds of contributions from local businesses and community members made the construction of the sign possible without the use of any public funds. Donors gave as little as $5 or as much as $15,000.

“We could not have built this sign without the support of the hundreds of donors who contributed,” Sullivan said. “I want to thank them for having the foresight to invest in the future of the college.”

“On behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, we are very excited about the new electronic sign at Beaufort County Community College,” said Catherine Glover, executive director of the Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce. “It is going to be a great way to get information dispersed to many, and we appreciate all that BCCC does for our community.”

This section of U.S. 264 accommodates as many as 16,000 vehicles a day, many of them students or potential students at BCCC. The college began fundraising and planning the sign more than three years ago. The new sign will help inform students about important dates and events, alert students to weather-related closings and provide hurricane-related announcements.