Tiffany Soto joins Pinnacle Financial Partners

Tiffany Soto has joined Pinnacle Financial Partners as a financial specialist at the downtown Locust office on South Main Street.

Soto previously had been a senior customer service representative at Fifth Third Bank for six years.

“Tiffany’s energy and experience providing excellent client service is what makes her an exceptional addition to our team,” said Felecia Navarro, Pinnacle’s Locust office leader. “She will serve our clients well.”

Pinnacle Financial Partners provides banking, investment, trust, mortgage and insurance products and services for businesses and their owners and individuals. The firm was on Fortune’s 2017 and 2018 lists of 100 Best Companies to Work for in the U.S. In 2017, American Banker named Pinnacle the sixth-best bank to work for.

Pinnacle joined the North Carolina market in 2017 after it acquired BNC Bancorp or Bank of North Carolina.

For more information, visit www.pnfp.com.

Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation gives to Project Santa of Denton

Project Santa received $2,700 from Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation to help feed more than 250 families, children and people in need during the Christmas season and throughout the year.

“Project Santa is honored and privileged to be a part of the Food Lion Feeds Foundation again this year,” said Keith Garner of Project Santa. “Food Lion has been very generous to Project Santa, and the two organizations have partnered together to feed thousands of children and families in Rowan and surrounding counties. Food Lion’s commitment to feed the hungry is incredible, and Project Santa is proud to support their endeavors.”

For 61 years, Project Santa has provided food, toys and clothing to underprivileged children in eastern Rowan, Davidson and surrounding counties. Representatives of the organization visit the families to learn their needs. On Christmas Eve, Santa delivers toys and clothing to the families’ homes.

Since 2001, Food Lion Feeds has awarded more than $10 million in grants for programs and organizations dedicated to feeding the hungry.

For more information, visit www.foodlion.com/feeds.

Google to provide resources to help veterans transition to civilian life in Charlotte

Google.org awarded a $2.5 million grant to USO to provide training and career guidance for military personnel, military supposes and veterans in Charlotte who are transitioning to civilian life.

The grant will allow USO to incorporate the Google IT Support Professional Certificate into its programming. The program will be available at the USO Pathfinder Transition office in Charlotte beginning Oct. 1.

“There is an opportunity to re-equip service members with IT skills as they move onto their next chapter after military service and to help address the spouse unemployment/underemployment problem with highly portable careers in the IT industry,” said Alan Reyes, the USO senior vice president of Operations, Programs and Transition. “Through innovative partnerships like this, USO and Google will be able to provide the resources and programs that support the needs of transitioning service members and their families as well as help to minimize the workforce gap in the IT industry.”

The program developed by Google offers highly interactive content. The IT Support Professional Certificate will give recipients a direct route to employers, since IT support positions generally don’t require a college degree but experience.

The announcement is part of a series to help transitioning service members and military spouses. Service members can search “jobs for veterans” on Google to see civilian jobs related to skills used in the military.

To learn more about the Google IT Support Professional Certificate, visit grow.google.