Nebraska Company's name to go on new SCC STEM center project

BEATRICE – A Nebraska company with worldwide connections will see its name on a planned Science, Technology, Engineering and Math center to be constructed on the Lincoln Campus of Southeast Community College.

A technology tower at the planned STEM center will be named the “Sandhills Global Technology Center”. The firm is donating $5 million toward the project, the plan for which has been submitted by the Southeast Community College Board of Governors to the Postsecondary Commission for Higher Education.
Sandhills was awarded a naming rights designation for one of two four-story towers planned for the center. College officials are conducting a naming rights search for a second, Science tower.

SCC Lincoln Campus Director Bev Cummins says the project will serve multiple career fields and meet needs of the region through partnerships.
"Even as we design this space, we're bringing in a lot of community and workforce partners into it. We're creating a day center where they can come in and work through problems....or have a problem where students are trying to solve it. Lots of different opportunities to have really innovative learning."

The project, expected to cost about $42.7 million, is planned in two phases. Cummins says construction costs have risen in recent months.
"When we were looking at the entire building and the whole scheduling, we realize that we found ourselves almost wanting to pull back or even pulling programs out of it. But, we said that's really not in the best interests of the objectives of this project...meeting the needs of our community. It would make more sense to construct this. It needs two towers...with the infrastructure set for the science building as we work through the technology building. We're designing it all at the same time."

The SCC Board met at the Beatrice Campus Academic Excellence Center on Tuesday, approving the donation and naming rights for Sandhills Global….and approved submitting the project for Coordinating Commission approval. The SCC Foundation has been conducting what is calls its “Empower” Capital Campaign to raise support for the project.

The college currently has about $8 million in funds pledged to the center. Cummins says about 90% of the cost of the project will be covered by the SCC capital fund budget. The new STEM center would be located on the south side of the Lincoln Campus. The college also plans construction of a new residence hall on the campus. 

Sandhills Global was founded in 1978, then known as the Peed Corporation. The information processing company’s headquarters is in Lincoln. According to its website, Sandhills Global and its international subsidiaries employ almost 1,200 people.