Tom Neilsen
Fundamentally, I believe in community colleges. We have to keep a strong middle-class – and that happens with jobs that are technical and not necessarily four-year college degrees. Community colleges have the ability to be nimble, flexible and serve the wide range of student needs.
In the early ‘80s, our family business went through a transition from old-line manufacturing to high-precision manufacturing. It was clear that our employees needed to be retrained, so we utilized our relationship with a community college to make that happen. Our successful transition was largely due to the training our employees received.
PCC is a remarkable community college providing opportunities for students of varying pursuits and circumstances. My wife Chris and I are proud to support and champion the important work of PCC. We have made Champions gifts to honor the individuals whose involvement with PCC has inspired us – and, in doing so, we want to open the door for others to do the same.