“It's boundless, the kinds of things we can do with an executive education center,” said Larry Gianchetta, dean of the UM Business School.
The new Gilkey Center will also house a state business plan competition and a family business center.
The groundbreaking ceremony featured speeches by Gov. Brian Schweitzer and MIT economics professor Lester Thurow, who was in town as part of the Gilkey Executive Lecture Series.
Thurow told donors that buildings are key to a university's success.
“There's nothing more important than building a building,” he said.
The ceremony was held in a university classroom because of the chilly weather. Organizers decorated the classroom with two bouquets of cut flowers and a banner depicting the new building.
After the ceremony, supporters braved the cold and walked to the Gilkey Center's proposed building site. Under a tent, donors churned a pile of fresh dirt with gold-colored shovels.
Gianchetta said he expects the building to be complete within two years. It will take architects about six months to draw up blueprints and another year to construct the building.
But all that's on hold for now, Gianchetta said. The university can't start construction until is has all the funds for the project.
“We don't have the full $5.1 million yet,” he said. “We're pretty hopeful that by the end of the year we'll have the full $5.1 million raised.”
Gianchetta said he hoped people who attended Friday's groundbreaking will give money to help fund the project.
The money raised so far has come entirely from private donors. Some gave a few hundred dollars, while others donated much more. The Gilkey family, for whom the new building is named, donated $1.5 million.
Harold Gilkey said the project will go forward despite the recent economic downturn. The downturn might even work to the school's advantage because the price of building materials is going down, he said.
The new building is “an investment in the future,” he said. Gilkey said he wanted to invest in education so that students could have opportunities that he didn't have.
Though the building will be privately funded, it will cost the university. The school is giving prime real estate to the project. The school will also have to pay for maintaining the building.
Gilkey said the university requires the new facility to be a green building. That will keep heating and electricity costs low and put less burden on the university's finances. Since the school will charge organizations for using the new facility, he said he expects the new building will be financially self- sustaining.
Harold Gilkey and his wife, Priscilla, proposed the idea for the new building. They also endowed a lecture series that brings corporate executives to speak at UM. The Gilkeys graduated from the University of Montana in 1962.
Harold serves as chairman and CEO of Spokane-based Sterling Financial Corp. Priscilla is an emerita trustee of the UM Foundation.
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Vrede wrote on Oct 11, 2008 4:41 PM: