CTE raises $2.7 million
<p>Tim Komberec and John Young, chairs of the NIC Foundation’s Building the Future Campaign, react Monday in the Edminster Student Union Building as students finish uncovering a display showing what the campaign has already raised for the Career and Technical Education Center in Rathdrum. The goal of the capital campaign is to raise $5 million.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE — North Idaho College President Joe Dunlap announced Monday that more than $2.7 million has been raised for the completion of the college's Career and Technical Education Facility.
Dunlap made the announcement during an event Monday afternoon at NIC's main campus, which formally kicked off the "Building the Future" capital campaign — a drive led by the NIC Foundation to raise $5 million to complete the facility, which was primarily funded through the use of $15 million from college capital funds. Construction on the 110,960-square-foot-facility, located in Rathdrum next to the Kootenai Technical Education Campus, is underway and projected to finish in time for the first classes to be held in August.
"We want to make sure that the students we have in our community have every opportunity to grow on," said John Young, who is one of the campaign chairs and president of Young Construction Group. "Please help us as we go ahead and get this final part of our campaign going."
Tim Komberec, who is also chairing the campaign and is the CEO of Empire Airlines, said the $5 million will be used to equip the facility with state-of-the-art equipment and to create an equipment fund to ensure the school remains current as technology advances. Any additional funds raised through the campaign, he added, will be used for scholarships.
During the event, Dunlap announced the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation, a Boise-based family foundation committed to the vision of limitless learning for Idahoans, had donated $1 million to the project. Dunlap told the crowd gathered in the Edminster Student Union Building that the college has worked with the foundation on numerous projects, and the donation is a continuation of a long-standing relationship between the two.
"This new facility will provide seamless transitional pathways from high school to higher education for thousands of Idaho students," said Roger Quarles, Albertson Family Foundation executive director, in a news release. "There is a great need for certificates and technical and two-year degrees in our state. We're proud to support such a necessary and exceptional effort."
The CTE facility will house several programs: Automotive Technology, Collision Repair Technology, Architectural and Mechanical Computer Aided Design Technology, Diesel Technology, Industrial Mechanical/Millwright Technology, Machining and CNC Technology and Welding Technology. According to college officials, current facilities for these programs are too small or limited, do not adequately meet student enrollment demand or are outdated. Many of the programs, the release adds, are located in offsite facilities that are leased by the college.
"And because of that, there has been a need to increase our capacity and space," Dunlap said, adding the college has added or expanded 17 career and technical programs in the last five years. "(The facility) is gigantic and, for those of you who are moving out there, you will be absolutely amazed."
To learn more about how to support the Building the Future Campaign, contact the North Idaho College Foundation at (208) 769-5978 or foundation@nic.edu.