In 2019, Mid-State Technical College launched a multiyear capital campaign that would raise nearly $23 million for the benefit of its rural Wisconsin, U.S., community. The creation of the new Advanced Manufacturing, Engineering Technology, and Apprenticeship Center is a direct result of community support and will be fully operational for the 2024 fall semester.
As one of 16 colleges in the Wisconsin Technical College System, the college focuses on workforce stability as a major part of its mission. In 2017, listening sessions with staff and community partners, as well as employer feedback, raised concerns about high school graduates leaving the area to receive manufacturing training elsewhere—and never returning. Research also revealed that projected staff retirements through 2030 would leave 2,300 manufacturing positions vacant across the eight counties Mid-State serves.
With the need to upskill the incumbent workforce and meet the expansion needs of employers, Mid-State determined that more space was required to both enhance its current offerings and create new programs to support the manufacturing workforce in its region.
This meant creating a campaign that was centered on educating community members on the need and encouraging their partnership with the college. One such community member, a Mid-State alumnus, learned about the campaign and subsequently donated the land upon which the AMETA Center now stands.
A total of 187 individuals and 127 business, industry, and municipal partners gave to the campaign. It’s a significant number of people for their rural area, says Bobbi Damrow, Vice President Workforce & Economic Development and Community Relations.
“When people have asked us, ‘How did you really raise that kind of money?’ It was all because it was based on a need. It wasn’t just a nice-to-have. We felt that if we didn’t come up with a solution our employers and our communities would suffer. And that sets up to be a great story,” says Shelly Mondeik, President of Mid-State.
ADVANCE WORK:
About half of Mid-State’s nearly 200 staff members donated to the campaign. They also had the opportunity to donate banked vacation hours in place of a direct financial contribution.
“It wasn’t ever a Mid-State project. It was a community project. The investment of the individuals who’ve donated, [including] staff and students at Mid-State, we were all given the opportunity to feel like we are part of this project. Personally, I’ve donated to this project because I believe in it—everybody feels ownership of it, not just Mid-State,” says Micki Dirks-Luebbe, Development Director and grants writer on the campaign.
The campaign team collaborated with the college’s marketing and communications team to create a website with a comprehensive story that developed alongside the campaign. Driving possible partners to the site often led to donations, says Damrow. “Every time another name would be added, someone else would call, [and say] ‘I see so-and-so is on the website; I want to be a part of this,’” she says.
The team also relied upon email communication. Transparency about the campaign’s status, goals, and approaching milestones inspired people, as did sharing good news such as when someone new joined the project, says Damrow.
Campaign partners are now friends of the college, says Mondeik. “I really believe the relationships we’ve built and the community partnerships [we’ve formed]—it’s going to continue to have Mid-State be a very special place.”
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