A new 2,000-square foot facility designed to provide Arkansas Tech University agricultural education and agriculture business students with enhanced hands-on learning was dedicated on the ATU campus in Russellville on Wednesday, Dec. 10.
The new Farm Credit Agriculture Building includes eight welding booths, two virtual reality welding instruction stations and four small machine work stations.
“This building represents what is possible when higher education and community partners work together for the greater good,” said Dr. Russell Jones, ATU president. “When I became aware of the need for this facility, I asked our Division of Advancement to identify a path forward that would allow us to address this need without accruing any debt for the university. Soon after, numerous community partners…many of which are represented here today…enthusiastically stepped forward and said yes to helping us with the financial commitment necessary to construct this facility.”
Major donors to the project included Farm Credit of Western Arkansas, the Farm Bureau Foundation of Arkansas, Conway County Farm Bureau, Pope County Farm Bureau, Yell County Farm Bureau and Mobley Concrete.
Additional support was provided by Arvest Bank, Blaylock Heating and Air, the Jim and Mary Cole family, Greenway Equipment, Union Bank, the John G. Harris family, Ida Ruth Jones, Tom and Jayne Jones, a gift in memory of Gary and Sherry Kaufman and a gift in memory of Dr. Malcolm Rainey.
The equipment contained in the Farm Credit Agriculture Building was made possible through a $730,000 federal grant obtained for Arkansas Tech by Congressman Steve Womack.
“It’s a collaboration that harkens back to the very beginnings of Arkansas Tech University,” said Jones. “Our institution was created through a grass roots effort by farmers who knew their sons and daughters would need advanced training in order to meet the evolving challenges and opportunities in agriculture. As a result, the Governor George Donaghey signed Act 100 of the 37th Arkansas General Assembly into law on April 1, 1909, and four agricultural high schools around our state were created. The one that was awarded to Russellville evolved to become Arkansas Polytechnic College in 1925 and Arkansas Tech University in 1976. Today, more than 116 years after Governor Donaghey’s signature created our institution, Arkansas Tech remains a leader in growing the next generation of agriculture leaders for our state…and our community partners remain invested in supporting our mission.”
Additional speakers at the dedication included Bryan Fisher, ATU vice president for advancement; Bill Clary, chairman of the ATU Board of Trustees; Len Cotton, member of the ATU Board of Trustees and alumnus of the ATU agriculture program; Baxter Wallis, chair of the ATU Agriculture Advisory Board and alumnus of the ATU agriculture program; and Andrea Leding, senior vice president for operations at Farm Credit of Western Arkansas and alumna of the ATU agriculture program.
“As an alum, I know firsthand the impact this university has had on shaping careers and lives,” said Leding. “And as someone who has dedicated my career to Farm Credit, I can tell you that our mission has always been to support agriculture and rural communities. This building embodies that mission. It’s an investment in education, in innovation and in the future of Arkansas agriculture. On behalf of Farm Credit, we are proud to be a part of this milestone. We are planting seeds of knowledge and opportunities that will grow for generations to come.”
Learn more about the ATU agriculture program at www.atu.edu/agriculture.
