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Jerry Pedley (first standing row, second from left), founder and president of Mertek Solutions, in Sanford, and all his employees take a break from work to have their picture taken. A dozen of the employees have worked with him since he founded his first company, Electro-Mechanical Specialties, in Sanford in 1990. Pedley says his company has always had a strong partnership with Central Carolina Community College. All the employees are either graduates of or have received skill training through the college's engineering and industrial technologies programs or through its Industry Services Office. Pictured are, (kneeling, from left) Wayne Dove, Michael Moody, William McBurnett, Matt Gessner, Kevin Pedley, Chuck Nedrow, and Jacob Pedley; (first row standing, from left) Jeremy Pedley, Jerry Pedley, David Holland, Melody Hamilton, and Eve Carlyle; (second row standing, from left) Nick Newby, Tom Dupre, Clay Blanchard, Justin Pedley, Eric Carter, Mitch Poe, Jeff Spivey, and Jose Torres; and (third row standing, from left) Travis Pedley, Ronnie Holder, Kirk Pedley, Danny Swanson, Bob Pembroke, Craig Hart, Pete Ciliberto, and Blair Johnson. Not pictured are employees Chase Williams, Jesse Eckley, Robert Hamilton, James Rybolt, and Austre Gonzalez. For more information about Mertek Solutions, visit www.merteknc.com. For more information about Central Carolina Community College's engineering and industrial technologies programs and other programs, visit www.cccc.edu.

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Jerry Pedley (left), founder and president of Mertek Solutions, in Sanford, and two of his employees, Jeff Spivey, of Goldston, designer of mechanical assembly machines, and Craig Hart, of Gulf, designer of electrical assemble machines, check out one of the company's machines for assembling automotive parts. Pedley has a strong working relationship with Central Carolina Community College, where all his workers have received training, including Spivey and Hart. Since it opened in 2010, the company has grown to 33 employees and $4 million in annual sales. For more information about Mertek Solutions, visit www.merteknc.com. For more information about Central Carolina Community College's engineering and industrial technologies programs and other programs, visit www.cccc.edu.

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Jerry Pedley, founder and president of Mertek Solutions, in Sanford, demonstrates one of the robotic assemblers at the company. Mertek is a globally oriented company whose engineers design and build automated testing and assembly equipment for a wide range of products in various industries. Since it opened in 2010, the company has grown to 33 employees and $4 million in annual sales. All of the company's technicians and engineers have received skill training through Central Carolina Community College's engineering and industrial technologies programs. The college's Industry Services Office also provides at-site workforce training. For more information about Mertek Solutions, visit www.merteknc.com. For more information about Central Carolina Community College's engineering and industrial technologies programs and other programs, visit www.cccc.edu.