Otter endorses several university and college expansion projects

Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter is encouraging the Legislature to set aside more than $30 million for school construction projects.

Otter also asked the Legislature to make several other investments in education this year, including $58 million for the teacher career ladder, $10 million for school technology funding, and $5 million for expanding college and career counseling. Otter called education investment the greatest need for Idaho.

“My education funding proposals are about doing the right thing for the next generation of Idahoans and laying a foundation for their own refinements and adjustments to keep pace with a dynamic global marketplace,” he said.

Idaho has a growing workforce gap that will result in 49,000 unfilled positions by 2024, according to the Idaho Department of Labor. Otter has proposed giving $10 million each to three school projects that would address several needs for Idaho’s workforce.

University of Idaho Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment

The Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment would support the dairy and food processing industries in the Magic Valley. The university conceived of the center in 2007 after hearing about dairy industry partners interested in a research partnership, and the Legislature set aside $10 million to help build the facility. Momentum stalled during the Great Recession, said Chuck Staben, president of UI. He revived the project when he became UI president in 2014.

“If you look today, animal-based agriculture is the largest sector of agriculture in Idaho and food processing has become increasingly important, too,”  Staben said. “Even though potatoes remain the iconic product for Idaho and is an important agriculture crop, we are a huge dairy state.”

The university is waiting for a fiscal impact study that will better detail the size and cost of the building. Existing plans call for a multi-acre project that would include classroom and lab space and a dairy and food processing facility.

The estimated cost for the building is $45 million, of which the state would pay $15 million.  The other $30 million would be split between the university and industry partners that have not yet been identified, Otter said.

“I can’t say who the other partners are, but I imagine the livestock equipment suppliers and the dairy associations would be interested in the research and development at the center,” Otter said.

Agribusiness had $27.8 billion in sales in 2014 – about 20 percent of Idaho’s total economic output. There are about 130,000 agribusiness jobs in the state, according to the University of Idaho.

“We had actually planned to make this ask of the Legislature next year, but essentially, legislators and the governor came to us and said, ‘look, we had a year where state revenues were above projection so let’s take this approach and set the money aside,'” Staben said. “We are excited to see that. We think there will be a lot of legislative support for this.”

Boise State University Center for Material Science

Otter asked the Legislature to dedicate $10 million this year for Boise State University’s Center for Material Science, which would include a 250-seat lecture hall, two 85-seat classrooms, department offices and research laboratories. The center’s research would include manufacturing technology, health, energy studies, aeronautics and microelectronic devices.

Amy Moll, dean of the College of Engineering, said that the center will give engineers more hands-on training. It is expected to be between 85,000 and 100,000 square feet and cost about $50 million – $25 million of which has already been contributed by Micron.

The center is expected to open in 2019.

Lewis-Clark State College Career Technical Education Building

Otter proposed $10 million for a career-technical education building at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston.

The college now has two facilities with a combined 80,000 square feet of space for career-technical education, but it has run out of room to add equipment and has a waiting list for several programs.

The new 100,000-square-foot building would host classes for machining, collision repair, diesel technology, welding, engineering technology, industrial electronics and other technical and industrial programs, said J. Anthony Fernandez, president of LCSC.

“We have planned to add to our automotive mechanics program for years, but we had run out of space to increase class sizes,” Fernandez said. “Our diesel technology program is filled at 24 students, but we could easily add another dozen. Engineering is about the same and auto mechanics has 30 students and could add another 30. It’s the same as I go down the list; we just don’t have enough space.”

Fernandez plans to seek grant funding and industry partnerships for the $10 million the school will contribute to the $20 million building. He hopes to break ground next year.

“We have a lot of industries around the valley that are interested in this, from bullet manufacturing companies, to boat manufacturing, forestry, and paper companies,” he said.

Other expansion projects

Otter also announced support for other higher education projects, including the remodeling of the Gale Life Sciences Building at Idaho State University, the transition of Eastern Idaho Technical College into the College of Eastern Idaho and the College of Western Idaho’s plan to expand its Nampa campus and build a Boise campus.

“CWI is busting at the seams with an enrollment of 20,000 students just eight years after opening with 1,200,” Otter said.

“After seeing the difference that the College of Western Idaho has made here in the Treasure Valley, after seeing how quickly CWI has grown to meet pent-up demand for new educational opportunities and after seeing the overwhelmingly positive response from employers, the College of Eastern Idaho campaign has my full and enthusiastic support,” he said.

Bonneville County residents will vote on establishing the College of Eastern Idaho in May.

A $180 million bond for expanding CWI  failed to win 66 percent voter approval in November and the college is considering its next move, said Mark Browning, vice president of communications and government relations at the college.

“We are very appreciative of the governor’s endorsement of CWI and our efforts,” Browning said. “We are hopeful that others will recognize what he sees.”