Springdale technical institute creates nonprofit foundation

SPRINGDALE -- Northwest Technical Institute has established a nonprofit foundation to help pay for a proposed $10 million medical building.

The Northwest Technical Institute Education Foundation is expected to work with school administrators to assist needs of the school and promote it to the community, said Melissa Greenslade, student services director.

"It will assist with the medical building by allowing tax-deductible donations to be received," she said.

The foundation allows the school to collect donations for scholarships and other needs as well as equipment donations, she said. It was established as a nonprofit in good standing Feb. 26, according to the Arkansas secretary of state website.

The institute is a state-supported school offering several programs for high school students and adults, including industrial maintenance, diesel technology, nursing and information technology.

The proposed 50,000-square-foot building would be the space for all health care classes and allow the institute to expand its offerings, according to administrators. Health care students share limited space with other programs in the nursing and main buildings.

The building isn't apt to be completed for at least three years, said Jim Rollins, institute president. It would take at least one year to raise the money required to begin construction and another two to build it, he said.

The institute's existing foundation, Premier Industrial Education Solutions, was established to accept donations for the expansion of the 20,000-square-foot ammonia refrigeration building and will cease to exist when that project is complete, Rollins said.

The institute received $1 million from the state's rainy day fund and $1 million from Tyson Foods to pay for the ammonia refrigeration building's construction and equipment installation, he said.

The Northwest Technical Institute Education Foundation won't have an end date, Greenslade said.

Next steps include developing bylaws and determining who on the institute's board of directors wants to serve on the nonprofit group's board, Rollins said.

Institute administrators are also developing a funding feasibility and planning study for the proposed building, he said.