Future

Continued from Page 1 kids to come here, finish their degrees in the shortest amount of time possible with the least amount of student loan debt so they can have a better life, we mean it,” he said. “If they can get the first two years of their college done by the time they graduate high school and then go to Iowa State or Iowa for only two years, that literally cuts their student loans in half … it saves tens of thousands of dollars.”

In 2022, Iowa Central trained about 15,000 people within its nine-county service region, Ulrich said. These include CDL drivers, emergency medical technicians, career and technical education programs and workforce training at large regional employers like Prestage Foods of Iowa in Eagle Grove and Tyson Meats in Storm Lake.

“The economic impact that Iowa Central has on our nine counties where one out of every 26 jobs is impacted by this institution, that’s pretty big,” Ulrich said.

Only 35% of the students the college serves are from the ninestate service region, Ulrich said. However, of the students who graduate from Iowa Central, 77% stay in the service region.

“That’s an awesome draw for our businesses,” Ulrich said.

Fall enrollment at Iowa Central was up by 2%, Ulrich said, which is an overall 12% increase over the last two years.

The college also welcomed a new colossal 3-D printer that will eventually be used by the construction trades to print an actual house.

Iowa Central announced in the fall that the turf grass management program at

Willow Ridge would be moving to the Fort Dodge Country Club, and the restaurant at Willow Ridge will be closing after this semester.

“At the end of the day, we were losing $200,000 a year, and the purpose of a community college is not to lose a quarter million dollars a year so that a small group of people have a golf course,” Ulrich said.

The Country Club has been a “wonderful collaborative partner” with this transition, he added.

The culinary arts program that runs the Willow Ridge restaurant will be pivoting to a commercialized food truck in the near future.

Once the spring semester is complete and the restaurant closes, Ulrich said, the plan is to sell the property.