Will Lambe is the Director of the Community & Economic Development Program and the Community-Campus Partnership.
Last summer Adam Parker, a CCP graduate student intern, worked with the City of Kinston to design a streetlight replacement plan and applied for Federal Recovery Act funding to finance light replacements. Parker also helped to facilitate a partnership between the City and Cree Inc, a Research Triangle Park based company that is a national leader in LED manufacturing. CREE’s “LED City Program” is a special designation given to cities that pursue an LED strategy. While funding was not granted from federal Recovery Act funds, the City re-applied to the N.C. Energy Office and, in early October, was awarded a $500,000 grant to help defray the cost of a $625,000 initiative to install 740 LED streetlights in place of the current high-pressure sodium and mercury lights. Kinston Public Services Director Rhonda Barwick was quoted in the Kinston Free Press; “the LED lights last longer and consume less electricity, meaning the city’s electric fund and general fund will save money because they are not paying as much for maintenance and consumption.” More information available here.
Will Lambe authored the NC Rural Center report, Small Towns, Big Ideas, and he served as Director of the Community and Economic Development Program at the School of Government from 2009 to 2014.