EMC Invests in North Carolina Education Program

EMC Invests in North Carolina Education Program

EMC Increases Involvement in North Carolina Education System by Helping High- School Students Achieve Successful Futures

APEX, N.C., Dec. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- EMC Corporation, the world leader in information storage and management, today announced it has made a donation in the form of grants and information storage and management technology to Futures for Kids (F4K), an innovative career development program in North Carolina. EMC's contribution will provide F4K the resources necessary to challenge and encourage students to explore career opportunities in today's information- and technology-intensive economy.

Joel Schwartz, EMC Senior Vice President and General Manager, Midrange Systems Division, said, "Our employees in North Carolina play a crucial role in enabling us to deliver the world's most comprehensive lineup of information storage systems, software and services to customers around the world. To sustain a pipeline of skilled workers in North Carolina, we continue to invest in education programs, particularly math and science education. Futures for Kids will expose students to professions that match their interests and skills, emphasizing particularly how math and science skills can lead to careers in fields such as engineering."

F4K is a non-profit corporation that leverages the Internet to help high- school students discover their unique abilities and make the transition from school to either the workplace or higher education. F4K also enables businesses to invest in their communities by developing local talent to meet future workforce needs.

"We are very excited to have EMC sponsor our program," said Geoff Cramer, Co-Founder of F4K. "Their level of support will enable us to foster workforce development in communities not only within North Carolina, but also eventually across the United States."

EMC believes tomorrow's workforce must be technically literate to succeed. Therefore, EMC is investing in local education programs that encourage students to pursue technology-related careers. EMC's Apex, N.C., manufacturing operations have cultivated strong partnerships with the Wake County School District, providing a variety of learning opportunities for students at Apex High School, Apex Middle School and Lufkin Road Middle School through program sponsorships, job shadowing, mentoring and career fair participation.

Earlier this year, EMC donated monies and laptop computers to Apex High School's Academy of Information Technology program, which equips students with the personal, analytical, technical and communication skills they need to thrive in a global economy. In the process, the program introduces them to career opportunities in today's digital economy. EMC also invested in North Carolina State University's computer science department through its ePartners program. A Super ePartner since 2001, EMC sponsors a computer science senior design project each semester, which offers students hands-on experience with real-life computer software design problems.

In 2003, EMC underwrote the cost of the Lufkin Road Middle School Quality Keys program and provided coaches and mentors to help the school become a certified Quality Keys school. Sponsored by the American Society for Quality, Quality Keys is an initiative to develop quality and continuous improvement tools for schools assessing their curricula needs.

EMC is one of North Carolina's largest high-tech employers. The company operates a manufacturing plant in Apex; a research and development facility in Research Triangle Park; and sales and services offices in Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh. The EMC CLARiiON(R) CX series of networked storage systems, EMC Celerra(R) network attached storage systems and EMC Centera(TM) content addressed storage systems manufactured in Apex, as well as the storage management software developed in Research Triangle Park, represent some of the fastest-growing segments of EMC's business.

About Futures for Kids

Futures for Kids (F4K) bridges the gap between the hopes and dreams of our students and the workforce development needs of our communities. It accomplishes this by providing students, families and educators with the nation's most comprehensive and user-friendly resources on post-high school educational, training and career opportunities. For more information about Futures for Kids, visit http://www.futuresforkids.org/.

About EMC

EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) is the world leader in products, services and solutions for information storage and management that help organizations extract the maximum value from their information, at the lowest total cost, across every point in the information lifecycle. Information about EMC's products and services can be found at http://www.emc.com/.

EMC, CLARiiON and Celerra are registered trademarks, and Centera is a trademark of EMC Corporation. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Contact:
Kristen Karapetian
508-293-7782
karapetian_kristen@emc.com


Source: EMC Corporation

CONTACT: Kristen Karapetian, +1-508-293-7782, karapetian_kristen@emc.com

Web site: http://www.emc.com/
http://www.futuresforkids.org/


-------
Profile: intent