Campaign for new JCTC regional campus launches with $1.6 million in gifts | JCTC

    Campaign for new JCTC regional campus launches with $1.6 million in gifts

    Carrollton project must meet $4 million state match

    At a kick-off dinner Thursday, June 26, at General Butler State Park, a fund-raising effort required to receive matching state dollars toward a new regional Jefferson Community & Technical College campus launched with a significant start, $1.6 million in gifts and pledges. We are this close, Kentucky Rep. Rick Rand of Carrollton, who has championed the project for many years, told the audience. This region understands the importance of education and I know it will rally around support of this campus."

    Plans call for a 50,000-square-foot campus that will serve a six-county region consisting of Carroll, Gallatin, Henry, Oldham, Owen and Trimble counties, on 30 acres of land previously purchased for this facility on KY 227 in Carroll County across from the entrance of the state park. The new campus will allow the college to expand current programs, add programs and better serve the workforce needs of area employers.

    For more than 20 years, the college has operated from a renovated department store in downtown Carrollton. It has outgrown the space and cannot fully meet the needs for new programs without a new campus.

    The term bursting at the seams never meant more than it does at the Carrollton Campus, said Tony Newberry, JCTC president and CEO. The current campus, at 12,450 square feet, serves nearly 2,000 students a year and provides customized training to the region's numerous manufacturers. Enrollment is expected to double in a new facility.

    Funding for the regional facility was a result of an innovative proposal from the Kentucky Community & Technical College System to Gov. Steve Beshear and the 2014 Kentucky General Assembly that will allow KCTCS to issue agency bonds to construct a capital project for each of its 16 colleges. Termed BuildSmart, the terms of the legislation require 25 percent of the total scope of the approved project be raised by the local colleges before the agency bonds are issued for the remaining 75 percent Projected costs for the Carrollton campus are $16 million; $4 million must be raised locally. The bonds for the construction will be repaid through student fees beginning this fall.

    Thursday night, the Carroll County Fiscal Court, a long-time supporter of the community college. Donated $1 million toward the match. First National Bank of Carrollton pledged $100,000 and President and CEO Greg Goff challenged other banks to step up with support. Other pledges followed from individuals, foundations and area industry. More are expected in coming weeks.

    The Carrollton Campus Educational Foundation Inc., which helped launch the college in the community and helped fund its growth, Jefferson Community & Technical College Foundation Inc., the Carroll County Community Development Corp., and area leaders are partnering on the BuildSmart fund-raising initiative themed Building Regional Success.

    Carroll County Judge-Executive Harold Shorty Tomlinson and local attorney Ruth H. Baxter are co-chairing the Campaign Steering Committee, We have an ambitious fund-raising schedule, Baxter said. Our building design plans are ready to go, and we want to dig dirt by the fall of 2015. To make this happen, we need our $4 million in hand by June 30, 2015. Our goal is to have students attending classes at the new campus for the fall 2016 term.

    For information about the gift-giving opportunities visit https://jefferson.kctcs.edu/alumni/giving/buildsmart.aspx