Assiniboine Community College’s (ACC) ag school has a new name, plus another $4 million to help expand programming.
On Oct. 17, the college announced its school of agriculture and environment will be newly dubbed, “the Russ Edwards School of Agriculture and Environment,” after the founder and owner of WGI Westman Group.
The name change comes after a $4-million donation from the Manitoba-born entrepreneur.
Read Also
Canada’s agricultural innovation in crisis?
Experts argue that Canada’s ability to foster agricultural innovation and technology needs drastic improvement, and it needs to happen now
Why it matters: Brandon’s Assiniboine Community College (ACC) is in the midst of a multi-year, multi-million effort to multiply ag-related student spaces by over two and a half times.
It is the first time that one of ACC’s schools will bear the name of a person.
The practice is not so uncommon in other North American colleges and universities, an ACC spokesperson said.
“For ACC, agriculture and environment are key sectors to our role in the Manitoba higher education system. As such, we felt a named school will help to improve its awareness and profile with students and industry,” they said.
Tim Hore, dean of the re-named school, called the donation, “an incredible gift, and we are eternally grateful to Mr. Edwards and his family for their commitment to help us build unparalleled educational opportunities in Manitoba.
“It will have a long-lasting impact as our college continues to advance its vision for leadership in agricultural education.”
The companies under the WGI Westman Group umbrella will be familiar to farmers — ranging from Meridian to Armtec (known for drainage and water management products) and a roster of companies manufacturing steel for anything from roofing, doors and recreational ice shack construction to corporate buildings and farm sheds. Of those companies, two — Behlen and Westman Steel — are based in Brandon alongside ACC.
“Some of the early seeds of WGI Westman Group’s success were planted right here in this community,” the 89-year-old Edwards said at an event commemorating the name change. “In fact, my wonderful wife Edna received her nursing degree in the very building in which we now make this announcement.”
“My family and I are incredibly grateful to now be in the position to make this donation to the school… I hope generations of students will be able to use the knowledge gained here to plant their own seeds of success as well.”
The school is not the first thing to bear a re-brand linked to Edwards.
[RELATED] On the shoulders of history
In November 2021, the city of Winkler planned the grand opening of the Meridian Exhibition Centre, a 84,000-square-foot building adding new ice space and indoor activity space to the community’s existing arena. WGI Westman Group contributed $1 million to that project.
In Winnipeg, where Edwards first opened his doors in 1976, both St. Boniface Hospital and the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre — a long-term addiction treatment centre that opened its doors in August 2021 — have received donations from the Edwards family. Farther east, a volunteer firehall in Whiteshell Provincial Park owes its construction to donated steel from the company.
Planning for growth
The college says that some of the donation will likely go to the Prairie Innovation Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, although there is no concrete use set out for the funds.
“The resources are flexible in order to help advance the strategic interest of the school,” the college said in an emailed statement. “It is foreseeable that the funds could be used for capital, applied research and financial assistance.”
In 2020, ACC announced that the innovation centre would eventually become the new hub for ag and ag-adjacent programs — part of a wider goal to boost student spaces in those programs from about 300 to 800 per year. Agri-business programs would have their new home at the centre, the college said, along with sustainable food systems, horticulture, communications engineering technology and other offerings already in the catalogue.
There would be new courses and specialties to go along with the new construction, ACC also said. There would be courses based on the increasing automation and technical skill needed in the agribusiness sector. There would be explicit input and co-operation from the companies who would be looking for graduates from those programs. There would be more focus on applied research.
ACC describes the centre as its “cornerstone project to address critical labour shortages, advance applied research and facilitate industry engagement.”
To date, $16 million has been fundraised for the project, while the college says they are still looking for government contribution.
As of late 2021, the college had hoped to fundraise $15 million of the $65-million price tag, with government hopefully pitching in on the balance.
ACC has not yet said when they plan to start construction of the centre, saying only that they “hope to begin as soon as possible.”
The college estimates the centre will be complete about three years after government funds are finalized.
