Left to right, are Bill Wittenberg, Jonathan Matson, Chris Yow, and vice chair James Gouty being sworn in Aug. 15 at the Randolph Community College Board of Trustees meeting. At the far right is executive assistant to the president and board of trustees Kevin Walker.
ASHEBORO — Jonathan Matson and Bill Wittenberg were sworn in as the newest members of the Randolph Community College Board of Trustees during the board’s monthly meeting Aug. 15.
Current board members vice chair James Gouty and Chris Yow also took their oaths of office as their terms were renewed, while Harvey Boone retired from the board. The board also voted to retain the same officers with Reynolds Lisk as chair, Gouty as vice chair, and RCC president/CEO Shah Ardalan as secretary.
Matson, who was the state House of Representatives choice, is an electrical engineer with Somero Matson Group, a family company that created scheduling software for contractors and builds instruments for measuring concrete flooring.
“My hopes are to help and keep up the good work at RCC, especially working with Toyota,” he said. “My background is in construction technology, so I might be able to help educate people about some of the opportunities available in that industry.”
Wittenberg, who is the state Senate’s choice, is retired. He was the CEO of Klaussner Furniture from 2010-2019, joining the High Point Market Authority Board of Directors in 2016 and being elected Chair of the American Home Furnishings Alliance Board of Directors in 2018. Before Klaussner, Wittenberg was president and CEO of Berkline/BenchCraft.
The September 2023 state budget changed the way members of local boards of trustees for community colleges are chosen. Instead of four seats by the local board of education, four by the local board of commissioners, and four by the governor, eight trustees will be appointed by the North Carolina General Assembly — four from the House of Representatives and four from the Senate, and four by the board of commissioners of the county in which the main campus of the college is located. One of those four trustees can be a county commissioner.
