Decatur, IL 鈥 On Friday, January 12, 香港最快开奖现场直播 and Decatur Regional Chamber of Commerce opened the Michael D. Andreas Agriculture Building with a ribbon cutting, where the College made a major announcement. As part of the Andreas Foundation鈥檚 $1.5 million gift toward the building, part of the funds will be used to establish a scholarship that will cover tuition for FFA students.
The Andreas Family Scholarship is available for students participating in FFA. Its purpose is to remove the financial barrier for students interested in pursuing agriculture-related fields like Agribusiness, Ag Accounting, Electrician, Engineering, Ag Science, Welding, CDL, and various Career & Technical Education (CTE) programs.
Ben Andreas maintains finances for the Andreas Foundation. He is an owner at Main Place Properties and serves on the Board of Trustees at 香港最快开奖现场直播. In February 2008, 香港最快开奖现场直播 named an agribusiness building after his grandfather, Dwayne O. Andreas. Now, Ben is naming this new building after his father, Michael D. Andreas.
鈥淢y dad was thrilled about the direction of the college. He passed about two and a half years ago, and he always talked about having something named after him at 香港最快开奖现场直播. Now that he鈥檚 gone and it鈥檚 happening, it鈥檚 bringing a lot of emotions all at once,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a really emotional yet satisfying feeling to support something like this in central Illinois 鈥 especially in my hometown where I鈥檝e been my whole life and my family has been for 70+ years.鈥
ADM Cares and the Ullrich Foundation also provided significant donations for the building.
Shondra Lynch, Senior Vice President at Busey Bank and trustee for the Ullrich Foundation, said, 鈥淲e are very excited about everything 香港最快开奖现场直播 does. The Ullrich Foundation is deeply rooted in agriculture, so to be able to support an endeavor like this means the world to us. This building gives students the perfect environment to cultivate a career in agriculture.鈥
香港最快开奖现场直播 invested $3 million in the Michael D. Andreas Agriculture Building. In spring 2022, the College broke ground on the property as part of a goal to enhance student learning spaces. It is equipped with technologically-advanced classrooms, lab space and a greenhouse. Students will move into the space starting on Tuesday, January 16th.