November 3, 2006
For Immediate Release
For more information:
Jeff Kahn:
(801) 221-0964
Tom MacDonald
(801) 764-0005,
ext. 375
Canyon Park Technology Center Donates $2.7 million for New Building
The Culinary Arts program and the Small Business Development Center of Utah Valley State College will get a new home and a new outlook thanks to the UVSC Foundation and the Canyon Park Technology Center. The UVSC Foundation purchased Building L, the former Hard Disc Café, from Canyon Park Technology Center for $2 million. Canyon Park donated $2.7 million to cover the remainder of the building’s cost. The Foundation will sign a 20-year lease purchase agreement with the College.
“As the fundraising arm of the College, we’re glad we could help UVSC in this way,” said Jeff Kahn, UVSC Foundation Chair. “There was unanimous approval from the Foundation to purchase this building, and we know it will be beneficial to the students of Utah Valley State College as well as the UVSC Foundation.”
The Culinary Arts program will move into the building, which will allow UVSC to almost double student enrollment. Currently, there are 38 students in the core program, and with the new building, they can have up to 80 students. The number of kitchens will also quadruple, going from one they currently occupy in the McKay Events Center to three new kitchens plus one they will share with UVSC Food Services.
“The new building will allow us to give our students a better education,” said Greg Forte, Culinary Arts Institute department chair. “We’re hiring two new instructors, which will give them a diversity of skills and styles. With more kitchens, we’ll have the ability to teach things we haven’t had the time and space to teach before.”
In conjunction with UVSC Food Services and the Culinary Arts program, the culinary arts students will provide food for more than 6,000 Canyon Park Technology Center workers everyday. The food service will also be open to the public. In addition, the Small Business Development Center will also move into the new building, expanding its program with the move. A new three-phase business program will be developed to assist start-up businesses and make the community environment friendly for the brightest and most innovative minds for entrepreneurship.
“We’re excited to be able to give back to the community in this way,” said Thomas Macdonald, president and CEO of Canyon Park Management Company. “This is a great opportunity to improve the quality of food at Canyon Park and to give the culinary arts students the chance to learn in a real workplace setting. We also believe it is essential to have economic development for small business in a real-life workplace. We’re happy to make this contribution and partner with UVSC to make Utah County a better place to work and educate our children.”
About Canyon Park Technology Center:
TCU Properties, established in 2000, created the Canyon Park Technology Center (the former Word Perfect / Novell campus, 1501 North Technology Way, Bldg A, Suite 3300 Orem, Utah 84097) as a premiere destination for technology companies and data centers in Utah. Located in the heart of "Software Valley" along the Wasatch Front, Canyon Park offers an unprecedented set of on-site amenities, a dramatic and beautiful setting, competitive rates and access to a well- educated work force. Canyon Park currently houses approximately 85 companies and more than 6,000 employees in Utah County. For more information on Canyon Park Technology Center, please visit www.canyonparkutah.com.
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College Marketing Contact:
Megan Laurie
(801) 863-7149
Written By:
Valerie Chapman
(801) 863-8504
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