Access to transportation options is critical to enhancing the quality of life of residents throughout our region. Without it, individuals may struggle to attain essential goods and services they need to thrive. A group that is particularly affected by the lack of options is workers and job seekers. Learn how Centralina Workforce and some of their partners helped one job seeker find reliable transportation to help them grow and advance their career path.

As our region grows, our population is also aging, which adds increased demands on public, private and volunteer transportation options. In honor of May being National Older Americans Month, National Mobility Month and National Transportation Week, we’re highlighting timely resources that showcase our ongoing commitment to promote transportation considerations affecting older and disabled adults.

Most communities in our region do not have the need or financial resources for full-time code enforcement staff. To help support these local governments, Centralina offers on-call staff from the Centralina Community Economic Development (CED) department. Read how our team recently helped the Town of Weddington handled a recent violation and learn more about how CED can help your community enforce code compliance.

Selecting the ideal candidate for a new or open position is crucial for local governments, particularly when those in the role have extensive responsibility that can shape the direction of a department or the organization as a whole. One of the services Centralina Regional Council offers to its members is hiring and promotional assessment centers, which measure a variety of job-related competencies to help narrow down candidates and select the best fit for the job. When the City of Gastonia recently reached out for assistance in hiring a new Chief of Police, our Human Resources and Government Affairs & Member Engagement team were ready to assist.

For decades, the United States has been working to move past its dependence on fossil fuels. This article highlights the efforts made on the state level to help promote cleaner transportation and how Centralina Clean Fuels Coalition is furthering these initiatives in our region.

As electric vehicle (EV) ownership becomes more prevalent, access to affordable EV charging will be increasingly important. Through a 2018 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) at UNC Charlotte partnered with the City of Charlotte, Duke Energy and Centralina Clean Fuels Coalition (CCFC), a DOE program housed at Centralina Regional Council, to investigate solutions to this issue. The grant provided funding to develop a prototype technology designed to tap into existing streetlight infrastructure for curbside EV charging, lowering installation costs for curbside EV chargers compared to chargers that require the installation of new electrical infrastructure. EPIC collaborated with Duke Energy to develop a prototype for a pole-mounted EV charger, called PoleVolt, and deployed two pilot chargers in the City of Charlotte.

The month of April is National Fair Housing Month and National County Government Month. There is no better time than now to celebrate Union County and its initiatives to further fair and affordable housing in their jurisdiction! 

Have you ever stopped to consider where you’ll be at age 85? Centralina Area Agency on Aging (AAA) staff often ask this question in aging and disability sensitivity training to encourage participants to think about the aging experience. The aging population is growing in the U.S. and by 2040, about one in five Americans will be age 65. Centralina Area Agency on Aging, in an effort to help increase awareness of the challenges this demographic will face, began offering aging and disability sensitivity training.

The greater Charlotte region is nearing three million residents and is expected to add over one million more by 2045. To meet growing transportation challenges, Centralina adopted CONNECT Beyond’s regional mobility plan in October 2021. We want to acknowledge the one-year milestone and recognize all the work being done in the region to implement and move forward the plan’s recommendations. 

As individuals age and develop chronic medical conditions, they are less likely to sense and respond to changes in temperature, and they may also be taking medications that can worsen the impact of extreme heat. Operation Fan Heat Relief helps vulnerable adults at risk for heat-related illnesses stay safe during the summer. Individuals who are 60 and older, as well as adults with disabilities, are eligible to sign up for assistance.