Moraine Park celebrated the College’s newly constructed Automation, Innovation and Robotics (AIR) Center on the Fond du Lac Campus with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday, Feb. 19. All AIR Center donors were invited to attend, see the full list below.
In total, 32 district partners donated $2.7 million to the project. The AIR Center broke ground in May 2023 and was completed in Jan. 2024–just in time for the first class of students in the spring 2024 semester.
Event speakers included Dana Bourland, director of college advancement for the Moraine Park Foundation; MPTC President Bonnie Baerwald; Dave Schneider, president of the Giddings and Lewis Foundation Fund and MPTC alumnus; Joe Venhuizen, Vice President of membership and resource development for Envision Greater Fond du Lac; and Taryn Reese, an MPTC Quality and Advanced Manufacturing program student.
“When the Giddings & Lewis Foundation board of directors first learned of the AIR Center project and its promise of providing state-of-the-art training here in G&L’s hometown, we knew that this was a project we wanted to be involved with,” Schneider said. “Over the years, Moraine Park has been a valuable resource in recruiting and training the skilled employees needed to be competitive in a global economy. Now, we are pleased to be able to support Moraine Park in training the next generation of talent in the technology of the future with this new, beautiful addition of the AIR Center.”
Attendees were given tours of the new space and the opportunity to speak with college leadership and AIR Center faculty.
“I began my journey through Moraine Park Technical College last spring in 2023 after a spur-of-the-moment decision to try college again after one unsuccessful attempt at a four-year,” Reese said. “I found joy and success in my first semester courses, which solidified my decision to try college again. Being able to experience both the previous learning space and the newly constructed AIR Center, I greatly look forward to learning, experiencing and creating memories that I will be able to apply to a future career.”
Reese will graduate from the Quality and Advanced Manufacturing program in spring 2024.
“The AIR Center project reflects the power of collaborative community efforts. As I met with local businesses and industry, it was clear that they needed their workers to be trained in robotics and automation,” Bonnie Baerwald, Moraine Park President, said. “College leadership came up with a plan and our community supported it. I am humbled and proud to be part of such a generous and supportive community–one that believes in the power of technical education and collaborative workforce solutions. This January, we proudly welcomed the first class of students to the new AIR Center facility–one that we know will create skilled workers for years to come.”
The AIR Center construction, which is phase one of the College’s Advanced Manufacturing and Trades facility in Fond du Lac, was the first visible sign of referendum construction. Phase two, which includes a remodel of the manufacturing wing, is underway with a planned June 2024 completion date.
The Advanced Manufacturing and Trades facility will create classrooms and specialized labs to address local workforce shortages and provide enhanced spaces for instruction in software training, programming, product design, manufacturing and robotics. Moraine Park students will benefit from a larger learning space with more equipment that reflects industry standards and offers a seamless transition from college to career and will also increase opportunities for high school students to earn college credits at the 27 district high schools.
Thank you to our AIR Center donors:
| Alliance Laundry Systems (Ripon) |
| Ted and Grace Bachhuber Foundation |
| Basic American Medical Products |
| Bonnie Baerwald |
| BCI Burke Company |
| Don Charleston |
| Conagra Beaver Dam |
| Excel Engineering |
| Fives Giddings & Lewis |
| Fond du Lac County |
| FVS Bank |
| Giddings & Lewis Foundation Fund |
| Grande Cheese Company |
| Holiday Automotive |
| Horicon Bank |
| Integrity Saw & Tool |
| J.F. Ahern Co. |
| Kondex Corp. (Lomira) |
| Steve Lindley |
| Mercury Marine |
| Joe and Dawn Colwin Family Foundation |
| Milwaukee Tool (WB) |
| Moraine Park Foundation |
| Muthig Industries |
| National Exchange Bank & Trust |
| Nelson and Vera Hicks Foundation |
| Roger Pribnow |
| Sargento Foods |
| Christopher Schrage |
| C.D. Smith Construction |
| Tenneco Powertrain |
| Maurice Van Heesch |