President: CNCC’s Rangely campus is here to stay

RANGELY | With your ongoing support, we’re here to stay.
In the late 1950s, a group of Rangely residents tirelessly pursued a vision to bring higher education to the area. In 1959, the residents of Rangely overwhelmingly passed a school bond to build a campus. In 1962, Rangely College, now Colorado Northwestern Community College (CNCC), opened its doors to 82 freshmen and a group of dedicated faculty and staff.
That level of commitment and determination is what we at CNCC strive to achieve to this day. Then, and now, the relationship between the Rangely community and CNCC is critical to the success of the region.
Together with you, we ensure both workforce and economic development, and we provide a quality of life for all our residents. As the community’s college, we can only do this work well in partnership with you.
Many of you know we are in the middle of a major gifts campaign, Community Partners Building Futures, to raise funds for much-needed upgrades, construction and program support in all of our locations. With your help, we’ll continue to move forward.
While construction will be starting on buildings at the new Craig campus site, the Rangely campus continues to be the cornerstone of our institution. We are, after all, one college in multiple locations including our Craig campus, with service center support in Meeker, Hayden and South Routt.
On our Rangely campus, we have accepted bids for the W.C. Striegel Engineering Center, and work will start shortly on this $1.2 million renovation project. In addition, we are over halfway toward our $2 million fundraising goal for the wellness center and getting ever closer to our program support goal.
The next big priority for funding on the Rangely campus is the significant upgrade and renovation of the Rector Science and Math building. This much-needed project will greatly benefit our community and generations of students to come, costing approximately $2.2 million to complete.
Along with the Community Partners Building Futures Major Gifts Campaign projects on the Rangely campus, the campus is undergoing a massive and necessary $6.5 million energy upgrade. This upgrade will not only make the campus more energy-efficient, it is already improving the daily activity of students and staff.
Many in our communities have invested in our vision for growth; and for that, we are most grateful. With ever-decreasing state-assisted funding, we must continue to seek strategic partnerships and additional financial support for the work we do. The need for CNCC is strong and growing; yet, none of this is possible without you, the community.