PHOTO: With the Peter Miller CTC as a backdrop, USDA Illinois State Rural Development Director Colleen Callahan joins IVCC President Jerry Corcoran to announce a $99,000 grant for the college’s wind energy program Monday.

Illinois Valley Community College’s capital campaign for Peter Miller Community Technology Center enhancement received a $99,000 infusion from a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant Monday.

Using the CTC construction site as a backdrop, the college announced the grant would fund key instructional pieces for its renewable wind energy technicians program.

As a boom crane swung structural steel beams into place and masons laid cement blocks for elevator shafts, USDA Illinois State Rural Development Director Colleen Callahan commented, “That’s the sound of progress.”

Making the official announcement, Callahan said, “USDA Rural Development is a lender helping make possibilities possible. Today we see a possibility becoming a reality. Williams Jennings Bryan once said, ‘What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.’”

“We are proud to partner with IVCC in developing a high tech workforce needed to power our country toward energy independence,” she said.

IVCC President Jerry Corcoran credited Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Sue Isermann, Vice President for Business Services and Finance Cheryl Roelfsema and assistant to the president on special projects Reed Wilson for playing major roles in acquiring the grant.

“We are convinced the new Peter Miller Community Technology Center will provide the Illinois Valley with a major economic development tool,” said Corcoran. “Prospective companies will be impressed by the affordable, flexible and high-quality training facilities available to their employees and current Illinois Valley companies will be encouraged to hire our well trained graduates.”

Student demand for wind energy training, one of nine career programs going into the CTC in January 2014, has exceeded IVCC’s current capacity. Specifically, the grant will help purchase two pieces of training equipment: a Nacelle wind turbine system with power generation control and an electric pitch hub system.

“The state-of-the-art equipment this grant is helping fund will prepare students to fill the current need for trained wind energy technicians as another 400 to 500 wind turbines are constructed in the area,” said Callahan.

The funding, applied for by the IVCC Foundation, was made available through the Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) program.

“This is rural, this is business, and this is enterprising,” said Callahan.