PIQUA — Edison State Community College announced a new project Tuesday morning funded by at $2.5 million donation from the Robinson Fund.
Faculty, staff, and students from Edison, along with local officials and community members, joined Edison State President Doreen Larson, Thom and Pat Robinson of the Robinson Fund, and Tom Milligan, chair of Edison State’s Board of Trustees for the official check presentation and the unveiling of a new project.
“This project will create a new campus entry point, and I feel that it denotes a new phase of growth and improvement of Edison State,” Larson said. “For some time, Edison State was a well-kept secret, and to be honest, the main door to our campus was somewhat of a secret, too.”
Those secrets will be secrets “no more,” according to Larson, who went on to say, “This project represents a focus of Edison State, an intentional outreach to our community and particularly our business partners.”
The announcement was held in front of the West Hall building on Edison’s campus, which is the location that will be receiving the upgrade. Edison State is planning on building onto the West Hall building and extending it outward.
“Literally, the front of this building is going out,” Larson said. “Anyone coming to our campus will be drawn to the large and beautiful entryway to our campus facilities. Students passing through this entrance will be reminded that they not only select careers at the beginning of their studies, look for jobs at the completion of their studies, but they build their careers every single day. This entrance will provide them with ongoing career-building opportunities for internships, work-study experiences, and job interviews.”
This new attraction will also be an asset to local businesses as well as faculty and staff at Edison through hopes of creating various workforce partnerships.
“Visitors coming through this entrance will be struck by the wide variety of businesses and support agencies that partner with Edison State to provide high-quality workers and to retain these workers in our area,” Larson said. “Edison State faculty and staff passing through this entrance will have community resources on hand to support our students on a daily basis. They will be able to form strong and valuable relationships with business and community agencies.”
Larson thanked the Robinsons as well as everyone at Edison State, the Robinson Fund, and in the community who helped make this project a possibility.
“This is really a testament to the great work the team does,” Milligan added.
Pat Robinson said that it was their pleasure at the Robinson Fund to finance and be a part of the project. Thom Robinson commented later that they like to be able to help kids, noting how high school students are able to take classes at Edison State and get a head start on their careers.
“That’s very good for the community,” Thom Robinson said about Edison State. “I just like to help the kids.”
