Colleges, Universities and Community Colleges

Sedalia, Missouri

“

Ross Pfannenstiel was fabulous to work with during our capital campaign! SFCC Foundation hit our goal and even reached our goal ahead of schedule. We have shared our experience with many of our counter parts in the fundraising field and would highly recommend Kinetic to others.

“

Mary Treuner
Executive Director
State Fair Community College Foundation

Adaptive, student-centered and always looking ahead, State Fair Community College (SFCC) seeks to remain responsive to the needs of its students, employees, workforce partners and citizens to provide learning experiences that empower people and businesses to prosper.

SFCC’s mission is to advance relevant and innovative educational offerings to meet the goals of all its students. Whether that need is for short-term skills training, a degree to pass a licensure exam, courses that transfer to a four-year institution, career and technical programs to move swiftly into the workforce or targeted business and industry training, SFCC supports students as they achieve their goals—efficiently and affordably.

For many people living in central Missouri, landing a secure job that provides a good wage may feel unobtainable. At the same time, the largest barrier to workforce and economic expansion in the central Missouri geographic area is a limited pool of trained workers. Companies are anxious to invest in training, but doing so often requires them to shut down a portion of a building to facilitate training—reducing productivity and decreasing the bottom line.

A campaign for a Stronger Workforce, Greater Community: A Capital Campaign for the Olen Howard Workforce Innovation Center and Center for Excellence was launched by State Fair Community College Foundation to address these needs. Support from the campaign will provide greater opportunities for SFCC students while allowing the College to address the region’s significant need for a trained workforce.

SFCC is a vital economic engine for Central Missouri. Its partnerships and collaborations with area industries allow the school to provide training opportunities and programs that meet and exceed industry standards. For their part, industry partners provide input on curriculum, customized training opportunities for new and existing workers, mentorships, apprenticeships and jobs for students in all technical areas.

Efforts to maintain these career programs and partnerships required the College to raise more resources for programs and capital projects. Existing facilities were at capacity, and there was a great need to increase SFCC’s learning labs and services, particularly for in-demand fields such as welding and precision machining.

To meet a growing demand for technical workforce training, SFCC made the decision to build a new Workforce Innovation Center and Center for Excellence. These two facilities are anticipated to increase the college’s capacity to deliver workforce training by 200% and increase enrollment by at least 120% in career and technical areas.

In addition, the new Olen Howard Workforce Innovation Center offers expanded lab and classroom spaces for training in welding and precision machining, and the renovation of the existing Fielding Technical Center provides a Center for Excellence. The newly renovated space will include a climate, refrigeration and energy control (HVAC) lab and advanced manufacturing and robotics lab and industrial technology. The space will house a new pre-apprenticeship program as well as leadership, supervisory skills and logistics classes.

Ultimately, the campaign’s original $10-million goal was surpassed by $300,000. Kinetic* campaign consultant, Executive Vice President Ross Pfannenstiel offered this insight, “State Fair Community College Foundation conducted a great campaign to successfully reach their goal. Through the exceptional leadership of Executive Director Mary Treuner and campaign co-chairs Joe Fischer and Steve Ellebract, the campaign team stayed committed and focused, to implement a strategy and follow through.”

Mary Treuner shared, “Ross Pfannenstiel was fabulous to work with during our capital campaign! SFCC Foundation hit our goal and even reached our goal ahead of schedule. We have shared our experience with many of our counter parts in the fundraising field and would highly recommend Kinetic to others.”

With the completion of the Olen Howard Workforce Innovation Center, and the renovations to the Fielding Center, State Fair Community College has created a resource that will benefit not only the students attending classes, but will impact the local community and the surrounding region for generations.

Ross added, “State Fair Community College Foundation, and its leadership team will stand out as a shining example for other community colleges to emulate. They have a strong connection and great relationships with the community they serve, and the community’s support exhibits the faith they have in the College.”

*This campaign took place prior to Hartsook becoming Kinetic in 2022.