PNC Invests $1 Million In Education, Economic Development

PNC is investing a million dollars in North Carolina to spur the economy and boost preschool education.

Asma Khalid: The Pittsburgh-based bank is collaborating with Wake County Public Schools, Carolina Ballet and the North Carolina Museum of Art to introduce low-income students to the arts.

Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata welcomes the PNC initiative.

Tony Tata: The 2000-word vocabulary that the average economically-disadvantaged child arrives at our school with is unconscionable and we need to close that gap. And PNC will help us close that gap by penetrating the creative arts and sciences into the 22 pre-K classrooms that we have that serve our most underprivileged students.

In Rocky Mount, the bank will focus on economic development. The money will go toward funding job training courses and a feasibility study for a downtown events center.