Fundraising for colleges is nothing new, considering universities have been tapping into alumni support for decades. But more recently, partnerships with business and industry have become the lifeblood of success for schools like Sowela Technical Community College.

The Louisiana Community and Technical College System has raised $32 million for 29 facilities across the state — including both Sowela’s Jennings campus and its main site.

A private local foundation and other entities have pushed Sowela beyond the $960,000 it needed for a state match.

“Companies all over the state have stepped up and said we need these programs and graduates,” said Leah Goss, senior vice president of LCTCS system advancement.

“The genius of the community college is that it’s local focus — much of the investment has come from local government, local school districts, and local business and industry — that’s one of the neat things about philanthropy in the community college.”

She said donors are companies who need their product, or students, and are interested in investing in the schools’ programs and facilities, so they can then hire the students who come out of them.

Because of the demand, enrollment in the system has grown in the last year, with 111,000 students statewide in its 13 colleges.

Goss said the system is among the fastest growing in the nation and that Sowela is leading the state. Last fall, Sowela grew 21 percent and by spring had grown 23 percent.

“I believe we’ll be above where we were last fall,” said Sowela Chancellor Neil Aspinwall. “We’re continuing to grow.”

Aspinwall said the enrollment increase is driven by industry expansions, new accreditation, new buildings and the perception of the community college. Goss said companies desperately need a skilled workforce available to them.

“Because of the way the economy is changing, the technically equipped and trained employees that they need are not there,” she said.

Private fundraising for community colleges is a relatively new phenomenon, she said.

“Foundations are fairly recent for community colleges within the last 20-30 years,” she said. “Whereas foundations and fundraising for four-year universities has been well established for years.”

She pointed out that most universities have alumni associations “with a good-sized staff to develop private resources.”

“The typical community college foundation may have one to three people working for them to develop resources,” she said. “Resources don’t tend to come from alumni because we haven’t spent the time cultivating alumni. They tend to be our business and industry partners that are already working with us on the programs we have.”

Capital One Bank provided $80,000 the first year for scholarships directly related to non-credit welding and machining programs. A follow-on gift from Capital One of $70,000 was given this year to continue that effort.

Thanks to a more than $2 million donation, a Phillips 66 building provided Sowela with industry-specific equipment and training aids to prepare students to be job ready once they complete the process technology program.

And a more recent partnership will offer scholarships for more than 30 welding students. Funded by Praxair, the Skills Pipeline Workforce Development Program will offer more than $300,000 in scholarships to welding students at Sowela and two other state colleges, with each school receiving about $100,000.

Era Helicopters has given $50,000. A private foundation wanting to remain anonymous has given several hundred thousand dollars, and many local government entities have given $50,000-$100,000. Aspinwall said many private companies and individuals have given anonymously.(MGNonline)