Bring on the next tech center

Big questions still need to be answered - apparently, in the next few weeks. But North Idaho College's leadership is answering the biggest of them all: "What are you doing to provide technical training for good jobs?"

That issue is front and center, right where it should be. Last week, trustees agreed that during their meeting June 23, they will decide where a facility for technical training will go, and how much they'll ask taxpayers to authorize through a bond issue that likely will go before voters as part of the general election in November.

That doesn't mean controversy over sites will end when a decision is made June 23. People have strong feelings about their favored sites, including Ron Nilson, a member of the NIC Board of Trustees. Nilson favors a site close to the Kootenai Technical Education Campus - a campus he had a big hand in bringing into existence and still serves as a board member.

Nor will an agreed-upon cost placate everybody. The college's consultant is estimating somewhere in the $30 million ball park. Even if it's paid for through bond financing, more than a few taxpayers are likely to struggle with the concept of that much money for a facility used by several hundred students at a time.

In the weeks and months ahead, these and other questions will all require satisfactory answers and explanations if proponents are going to muster the two-thirds super majority voter approval required by law. But for now, we applaud President Joe Dunlap, his administration and the trustees for putting this critically important issue on the college's front burner.

Acknowledging that traditional two- and four-year college degrees are increasingly useful for anyone intent on embarking upon a good career, they are not the chosen goal for everyone. Nor should they be. We know a young welder who earned a certificate at NIC in one year; he's making $20 an hour for a company in Moses Lake, Washington, with superb benefits and promising wage hikes. Plumbers can make more than some lawyers; people repairing damaged vehicles can earn a nice living. Unlike so many others, people with strong technical skills can almost always find work somewhere, no matter the shape of the economy.

NIC offers an educational smorgasbord, but its greatest value, in our opinion, is preparing the local workforce for today's and tomorrow's jobs. That's why it's time for our college to create a home for that training, a home with long-term value and flexibility which will serve thousands of students for many years to come.