The fundraising arm of Ozarks Technical Community College, the OTC Foundation, has concluded its first Major Gifts Capital Campaign ahead of its initial goal.
The campaign, which was launched in November 2007, raised $14.41 million, roughly $4.4 million more than its original goal. The college celebrated the conclusion during a Feb. 24 ceremony at the school's Springfield campus, according to a news release.
“Continued private funding allows us to make a difference in students’ lives and to provide the educational opportunities necessary for them to compete in today’s work force,” OTC Chancellor Hal Higdon said in the release. “Private funding has never been more important to the college, as we continue to work to meet the needs of our students and our community while being well below the state average for community college funding.”
Among the donations, according to
Springfield Business Journal archives, was:
- a $2.6 million donation from Reuben and Mary Lou Casey, of San Clemente, Calif., to help fund OTC's Lebanon campus;
- a $100,000 grant from Kansas City, Kan.-based Sunderland Foundation to construct classrooms and office space on the Springfield campus; and
- two diesel tractors, worth $59,000, from Peterbilt of Springfield Inc., a subsidiary of the Larson Group, to aid the college's Transport Training Institute.
“It has been remarkable to see the way organizations, community leaders and private citizens throughout the region have stepped up to support the college during this campaign," said Neal Spencer, president of the OTC Foundation Board of Directors and CEO of Springfield accounting firm BKD LLP, in the release. "I am grateful to the past presidents of the OTC Foundation Board. Without their leadership, we would not have experienced the strong momentum that we had from the beginning of this effort.”
The $10 million goal for the OTC Foundation's Major Gifts Capital Campaign was designed to give $3 million to the college's Center for Workforce Development, $2 million to the Center for Health Education, $2 million for student support programs, $2.5 million for student scholarships and $500,000 for unrestricted gifts, according to
SBJ archives.
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