NIACC News Release

Ford Motor Company Donates Over $100,000
in Instructional Equipment to NIACC Automotive Program

Ford Motor Company of Detroit, MI, has contributed two vehicles, a worldwide diagnostic system, and automotive parts and equipment totaling more than $100,000 to North Iowa Area Community College as part of the "Keeping NIACC First" Campaign. The instructional equipment will be utilized for training purposes in NIACC’s Automotive Service Technology Program.

Expanding and replacing instructional equipment is one of the five key initiatives of the College’s major gifts campaign, which has raised over $3.8 million, or 77 percent of the $5 million goal, to date.

	Several Ford executives participated in the announcement, on campus including Bill Swift, a 1963 graduate of Mason City Junior College (NIACC’s predecessor). Swift visited NIACC in April as part of the Alumni Association’s annual Pathways to Success program. He was the keynote speaker and was also named NIACC’s Outstanding Alumnus for 2000.
Standing next to the donated equipment are (left to right): David McClain, Ford Technical Training Operations Manager; David Buettner, NIACC President; Joyce Hanes, NIACC Foundation Board President; Swift; Frank M. Ligon, Jr., Ford Director of Global Technical Support Operations; Gary Lafrenz, NIACC Automotive Advisory Committee member; and John Graham, Customer Service Division Regional Manager.

The donated items from Ford include a 2000 Lincoln Continental valued at nearly $42,000 and a 1999 Eddie Bauer-package Explorer worth over $35,000. Other items include a $10,000 worldwide diagnostic system, a $6,000 brake lathe, a $2,400 maintenance & light repair training program, a $1,500 new generation star tester, $2,390 in manuals on CD-ROM, and $3,000 worth of automotive components. The contributions total $102,995.

"Because of this donation, the level of Ford technical knowledge will increase in the area just by exposing young students to the knowledge that Ford is providing us," said Gary Lafrenz, president of Lafrenz Ford Lincoln Mercury of Mason City and NIACC automotive advisory committee member.

The Automotive Service Technology program at NIACC is an ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) master certified training program instructed by Greg Arrowood and Rob Heimbuch. The first year of the program is also taught at the Automotive Tech Prep Hub in Clear Lake by Mark Poppe. The Hub allows students to complete a free year of college by the time they graduate from high school. Participating schools include Belmond-Klemme, Clear Lake, Forest City, Garner-Hayfield, Lake Mills, West Hancock, and Woden-Crystal Lake-Titonka.

Students completing the second year of the automotive program earn an Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree from the College. The placement rate for NIACC automotive technology graduates has been 100 percent for eight of the past 10 years.

For more information, contact the Community Relations Department
North Iowa Area Community College, 500 College Drive, Mason City, Iowa 50401
(641) 422-4269 or 1-888-GO NIACC, ext. 4269
www.niacc.com