By SALINA POST
CONCORDIA - Cloud County Community College has received a $1 million grant from the Sunderland Foundation to be used for construction of the college’s Technical Education and Innovation Center.
The approximately 35,000 square foot center will house Renewable Energy, which includes Wind and Solar Energy and Drones; Nursing and Allied Health, which also offers high-demand career education for EMT, CNA, CMA, Home Health Aide, and IV Therapy; and Agriculture and Industrial Technology, including welding and CDL training, according to information from the college.
“We are honored and elated that the Sunderland Foundation invested in Cloud County’s project to grow and retain a strong Kansas workforce,” said Cloud County Community College President Amber Knoettgen. “We are grateful for their partnership in recognizing the value of a modern educational center in our local community.”
With the Cloud County Community College Foundation’s lead gift of $1.5 million, the college was able to pursue industry partners for additional support. Salina Regional Health Center and its affiliates, major partners of the college’s Nursing and Allied Health Programs, donated $1 million toward the project. Another significant partner was the Kansas Legislature, with a direct appropriation of $4 million from Federal American Rescue Plan Act Appropriations. The Sunderland Foundation becomes the most recent major partner in the project with its $1 million investment.
On Wednesday, the Salina Regional Health Foundation announced that it had awarded a $250,000 Community Health Investment Program grant to the Cloud County project.
READ: Salina Regional Health Foundation awards eight CHIP grants
The tech center project is scheduled to begin in fall 2022, with construction expected to be completed in spring 2024. Due to inflation, the estimated total project cost for the center is now $13.9 million.
Cloud County is in the late stages of fundraising for the tech center, and naming opportunities for additional donors are still available, the college noted in a news release.