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Jeremy Hafen, right, chairman of the Mountainland Technical College board and president/CEO of Clyde Cos., shakes hands with MTECH President Clay Christensen after Hafen presented the first donation to MTECH's $5 million capital campaign, which was announced the same night at an MTECH board meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023, at the MTECH campus in Lehi.

Nichole Whiteley, Daily Herald

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Mountainland Technical College Vice President Joseph Demma announces MTECH's two-year, $5 million capital campaign during MTECH's board meeting Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023, at the MTECH campus in Lehi.

Nichole Whiteley, Daily Herald

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Jeremy Hafen, right, chairman of the Mountainland Technical College board and president/CEO of Clyde Cos., presents a check for $500,000 on behalf of Clyde Cos. to MTECH President Clay Christensen, marking the first donation to MTECH's $5 million capital campaign, which was announced the same night at an MTECH board meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023, at the MTECH campus in Lehi.

Nichole Whiteley, Daily Herald

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The first capital campaign at a technical college in Utah was announced Wednesday by Mountainland Technical College.

MTECH’s goal is to raise $5 million by the end of 2025 to go toward student success. The campaign will begin Jan. 1, 2024, and the college’s communications team has put together a website that will guide donors through the process of contributing. Some of the stated goals of the campaign are to help students graduate debt-free, receive high-quality instruction and have access to top facilities and materials for their studies.

The capital campaign, titled “On the Rise,” was announced at MTECH’s board meeting on Wednesday. Following the announcement, Jeremy Hafen, chairman of the MTECH board and president/CEO of Clyde Cos., presented the first donation of $500,000 to the campaign.

Hafen said his company’s donation is “in support of (the) education of the people of Utah, and we just want that to go towards their education so that they can better their lives and move forward.”

Although On the Rise does not officially start until the new year, the website is live and ready to accept donations.

The funds raised through On the Rise will support three pillars of education in the Mountainland region: student success, faculty excellence and institutional support. A donor can choose which pillar they would like to donate to, or they can donate to the general fund. MTECH Vice President Joseph Demma explained no matter the pillar donated to, the contribution will elevate student success at MTECH.

“If you look at the other two pillars, they are inherently tied to student success,” he said. The college’s high-quality faculty, infrastructure and quality of labs are critical to the students succeeding at MTECH, he added.

MTECH President Clay Christensen added, “Every decision we make is student-centric. It’s all focused on a successful experience for the student.”

Maile Richardson, senior director of communications for MTECH, explained that the goal for student success “is the accessibility to higher education and alleviating barriers for the students.” When someone donates to student success, their donation will contribute to scholarships, fee waivers and/or sponsored activities and events.

Christensen said there were over 2,400 MTECH graduates this past year, and 99.7% of them graduated debt free. “We’re always trying to do things to help support and supplement, to make opportunities for students,” he said.

When donors contribute to faculty excellence, they help to ensure students will learn from top individuals with experience in the industry they are studying. Their donation will go toward recruitment initiatives, retention strategies and/or sponsored trainings. Donating to institutional support funds not only the construction of new buildings but also enhancements to lab space, facility recognition and college naming rights.

According to Demma, the money donated will only be used for supporting the three pillars, and none for advertisement of the capital campaign. “We’re going to really have a concerted, organized and comprehensive outreach effort to raise awareness, encourage support and let people know how they can participate. Whether it’s $5 or $500,000, they can make a difference at Mountainland and we’re going to share that loud and proud,” he said.

Anyone can donate, whether they are alumni, an owner of a business, a philanthropist or someone looking to support education.

Hafen said it was important for him to donate to On the Rise because, “As the CEO, I personally value education. So I want to make sure that education is well funded in the state, and Clyde Cos. also, as an entity, values education. So we’re looking at this institution, MTECH, specifically because it’s also a place where our workers, our craft workers, trade workers can get trained, whether it be welding (or) diesel mechanics. … So if we can help train our future workforce, then it helps us in our business as well.”

Hafen regularly works with and supports MTECH, and he explained that graduates have come to work for him and companies like his in the past. So the campaign not only is benefitting students, he said, but also local companies and the community by propelling forward the students’ success.

Hafen challenged the board and those attending the board meeting to “Stick your neck out just a little bit, get outside your comfort zone and help raise funds for On the Rise.”

During the presentation, Demma explained how On the Rise started. “​​A few months ago, Chairman Hafen called a meeting with a few of us at which he ultimately gave a challenge. He let us know that he did not want his chairmanship to simply be a box-checking, agenda run-through exercise. He wanted us to think bigger. He wanted to do big things and he asked us for some ideas.”

One month later, after brainstorming and collaborating, the board presented to Hafen the idea for a capital campaign that would raise $2 million over two years, Demma explained. However, Hafen encouraged them to aim higher, so they raised their goal to $5 million.

Christensen told the Daily Herald, “We will reach it.”

The communications team, all of whom are MTECH graduates, created the campaign.

“When we first were introduced to the project, we all sat in a room and talked about what we wanted On the Rise to be. We wanted it to be visionary,” Richardson said during the presentation. “We talked about the upward mobility; we wanted to communicate that while it might be slow moving upward, there’s still a community around to support. We wanted to convey the message that this community rallies around each other and builds each other up.”

Christensen explained this program is needed because there are rising enrollment numbers, and as MTECH quickly grows, they want to continue to provide students with a quality education and resources and “remove as many barriers as possible to help students be successful.”

He continued, “This will help us to go further faster and accomplish more for the students, for faculty and staff, as well as programmatic offerings and facilities.”

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