KALISPELL, Mont. — Kalispell-area Philanthropist Jerome Broussard has donated $7 million to Flathead Valley Community College to help fund phased expansion of the college’s Trades Institute.
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It's the college's largest single donation in school history.
“Very exciting transformative opportunity, not just for the college but for all of northwest Montana,” said Flathead Valley Community College President Jane Karas.
Karas said the gift towards expansion addresses an urgent need, as Montana faces a shortage of skilled trades workers.
“It made us ecstatic that somebody is this generous to help change so many lives not just now, but far into the future,” Karas said.
Phased expansion of the Trades Institute includes adding 24,000 square feet of new space alongside roughly 23,400 square feet of renovated facilities.
The project will create dedicated, full-service labs for electrical, HVAC, plumbing and machining programs.
“As well as then we have these flexible spaces that will allow us to be adaptable for future workforce needs that we don’t even know about right now, for example precision maintenance is becoming a very big need, and this will allow us to begin that program development,” said Flathead Valley Community College Workforce Development Executive Director Lisa Blank.
Blank said expansion will help enrollment grow at the Trades Institute, bringing more skilled employees into the workforce.
“We have large manufacturing activity here in the Flathead Valley, and we do get a lot of requests for that, so we’re really hopeful that this will help us meet that need,” Blank said.
The college has now raised $12 million toward the project's $16 million cost.
Karas said the college aims to raise the remaining funds by the end of the year and begin construction in 2027.
