Miles Community College (MCC) made a mark in its 76 years of history as ground was broken for the Ag Advancement Center on Thursday, August 4. The Ag Advancement Center will be a state-of-the-art, 36,000 square foot educational space that will include three classrooms/community meeting space, a large indoor arena for equine training and various rodeo events with seating for 500, faculty offices, an apartment for an on-site manager, a foyer area that will house the Bucking Horse Sale Wall of Fame, and concessions.
MCC President, Stacy Klippenstein, states, “We started this campaign with a purpose and a story – for our Ag and Equine students, for MCC, for Miles City, and for southeastern Montana. What was once a dream is now a reality. We will use this building as a foundation to grow our Ag and Equine Programs to best serve this great community and region of Montana.”
The metal facility will be delivered to Miles City the week of August 15 and then construction will begin. The anticipated opening of the Ag Advancement Center will be in Spring 2017. The Ag Advancement Center will truly be a learning center that will help MCC educate future agriculture producers and business leaders. It will also be available for public use on weekends and evenings, which will provide the Miles City community with a facility that has been needed for some time. Additionally, MCC’s Rodeo team will have the opportunity to practice indoors throughout the winter.
On the funding efforts, Klippenstein says, “This accomplishment represents a commitment from the Miles City community to join together to fund this project. We could not have done this without the generosity of our donors.” Over $2.3 million has been raised from many supportive community members, business leaders, organizations, foundations, and regional ag producers. The Miles Community College Board of Trustees has also voted to spend $470,000 from current MCC fee-generated funds and borrow another $480,000 from the Montana Board of Investments in order to start this exciting project.
The project, when complete, will be over $3.5 million so Miles Community College’s Endowment Board and Ag Advancement Center Fundraising Campaign Steering Committee is continuing its fundraising efforts to secure all the funds required to make this the best learning center possible. Currently, people can donate toward The Stockman Bank Challenge, which is a pledge that Stockman Bank will match all private contributions made to the project up to a total of $150,000 through October 31, 2016.
Anyone interested in learning more about the project or participating in The Stockman Bank Challenge can contact the President’s office at 406-874-6165.
