CCCC’s Epley retires after 40 years
November 9, 2007

SANFORD – Forty years goes by fast, especially when you love what you’re doing.

Ray Epley, industrial relations officer at Central Carolina Community College, retired as of Nov. 1, after 40 years with the college. The contributions he made to the college, community and local industry continue on.

“Any programs that improve workers’ skills – and Ray brought many to the table over the years – have long-term, far-reaching effects for the community,” said Bob Heuts, director of the Lee County Economic Development Corporation. “They improve the quality of life. Ray supported that idea 110 percent, he lived it every day.” 

Epley, a native of Marion, N.C., arrived at Sanford and CCCC in 1967. He was newly graduated from the Newport News Ship Building and Dry Dock Apprentice School with a specialty in tool and die making.

The college, then known as Central Carolina Technical Institute, was just 5 years old, with one campus and about 200 students. During his time at CCCC, it grew into Central Carolina Community College, with about 5,000 curriculum students at 14 locations.

Dr. William Martin, the college’s first president, hired him as department chairman of the tool and die making programs. Epley served in that position for four years, not only as chairman but also as an effective recruiter and an instructor who worked with his students to help them succeed.

He was so successful at recruiting for his programs that the next president, Dr. J.F. Hockaday, asked him to be the college’s field representative for recruitment. He served in that position for 17 successful years, from 1971-1988. During that time, he also earned his bachelor’s degree in technical education from N.C. State University.

In 1988, under the third president, Dr. Marvin R. Joyner, Epley became the college’s industrial relations officer, a position he held until Nov. 1.

When Epley started, the workforce needs of local industry were met by training bricklayers, automotive mechanics, and office and textile workers. Now, the college’s Industrial Relations Office supplies workforce training for the local plants of corporate giants such as Wyeth Biotech, Caterpillar, Moen Incorporated, Static Control Components, Inc., 3M, Magneti Marelli Powertrain USA, Inc., as well as for small companies in the college’s service area of Lee, Harnett and Chatham counties.

During his years as IRO, his office applied for and received millions of dollars in federal and state workforce training grants. In just the past four years, approximately 1,800 new and current workers have been trained using $1 million in grants. From 1997 on, Epley was assisted in his work by Cathy Swindell, who took over as IRO after his retirement.

All of his jobs at the college were about helping. It didn’t matter if it were one person or an industry with a need. Over the years, he has helped students get into their locked cars as well as helped thousands of workers learn and upgrade their job skills and, as a result, their quality of life. Industry has come to rely on his office for help in workforce training.

“If I could be remembered for one thing, I would want it to be for helping,” he said. “People need to feel they’re wanted and appreciated. It makes the trip along the way a whole lot better.”

In 2006, The Sanford Herald’s annual industrial edition, “Top 35 Reasons Industry Works in Central Carolina,” paid tribute to Epley: “Just for fun, try this experiment,” the article said. “Find any local industrial manager, someone who has faced the challenge of keeping employees on the cutting edge of new techniques and skills, and strike up a casual conversation about the need for industrial training. Then wait for a response. Even money says the next sentence is sure to include two words: ‘Ray Epley’.”

In turn, Epley said that no one person achieves great things on his own – it’s always a team effort.

He leaves the college with many fond memories.

“I’d make the same decision again to come to work for the college,” he said. “It fit me like a glove. It’s been a wonderful trip.”