The Parkland College's Trades and Technology Center recently received a healthy funding boost. PotashCorp has donated $1.225 million dollars to the new facility. The funds were part of a campaign where PotashCorp would match donations from the community up to the $1.225 million goal.
Faye Myers, President of Parkland College, says that the original PotashCorp commitment came at a key moment for the planned centre.
"It came at pivotal time right at the beginning when we needed a leadership gift to move us forward and to show the province and the people in the community that this would be a reality and large business was certainly investing in this type of infrastructure for the future of the region," Myers says.
The total goal for the Parkland College's capital campaign is $5 million, and Myers says they are confident that they will be able to reach that goal.
Mark Fracchia, Vice President of Safety, Health and Environment at PotashCorp, says that while his company will benefit from the training the center offers, as it replaces retiring employees and staffs new expansions, it's about more than just their own needs into the future.
"It's not just us, it's other industrial sites across the province and east central Saskatchewan that are going to need these workers. Certainly we will benefit from this partnership, other industrial operations in the province will benefit, and the communities, because the best part of all of this is that it will help young people get that training locally and stay home, finding careers in the province and in the communities and where they can raise their families," Fracchia says.
In meeting their goal, Fracchia says that they are proud to have kicked off the campaign and contribute to its success.
"It's very satisfying to see others in the community step up and provide the level of support that they did towards this centre. It's just good to see that level of support, our communities aren't large but at the same time we've got a lot of people in this province who are very interested in the success of this province, developing a skilled workforce and so it's great to see everyone step up and achieve that goal," Fracchia says.
Currently, the design of the Trades and Technology Centre is being finalized, as well as tests on the site where it will eventually be located. Myers says that the college will have a finalized concept design by the end of summer.
