TUCSON, Ariz. — Pima Community College received a hefty gift of $2.5M for its Center of Excellence in Applied Technology at the downtown campus.
The school says this is the largest amount it has ever been gifted and it will be transformational.
“We are so grateful to the Brown Foundation for recognizing that the vision that Pima’s board and Chancellor have put forth are going to really transform our region into being able to adapt to technology changes, not just now, but years in the future,” said Marcy Euler, the president of the Pima Foundation.
The purpose of the Thomas R. Brown Family Foundation’s gift is to advance PCC’s presence as a significant player in the economic growth of the region; going towards the ever-increasing expenses in tech education.
“We've got to help that technician, who we're training to understand that reality in which they're going to be working in. And so that's so but as part of that, I mean, that's cost is increasing. And, and so and so that's going to increase our costs, not only in terms of having actual vehicles with the technology, but also having the tools to work on it. And that's where, you know, working with partners become important,” said Lee Lambert, PCC’s chancellor.
The money will get PCC new manufacturing programs, will expand existing training partnerships, and provide much more high-tech equipment.
“The welding, the building and construction, the 3d printing, the the cyber physical systems,” said Euler.
“And so if you take, for example, a cyber physical factory equipment that we're going to purchase as a result of this generous gift, that's about a $300,000 investment. And then just to the 3d metal printers, one of them cost about $375,000. So you can quickly imagine, right, it's hard for the college by itself, to continue to keep pace with that reality of the cost of the technology tools without having partnerships,” said Lambert.
The $2.5M dollar gift is making those purchases and plans a reality. It will also help in attracting and keeping faculty who are in high demand.
