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VA Redevelopment Project
NewsVA Redevelopment Project
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Custer County Commissioners' Reject a $1-a-year Rental Proposal By John Halbert, Star Staff Writer The Custer County Commissioners' rejection of a $1-a-year rental proposal from the federal Department of Veterans Affairs headlined the VA Redevelopment Task Force meeting Sept. 18. It was agreed that further communication is needed with the DVA and the Montana congressional delegation. In a discussion earlier this year with Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.,Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi said the VA plans to move ahead with projects to replace the roof and install a heating and cooling system that is much less costly to operate. Principi said the VA would propose that Custer County approve a $1-a-year lease for the outpatient clinic and nursing home facility now housed on the VA campus in Miles City. The commissioners received a copy of the proposal in August. In September, the commissioners sent a letter to Baucus with their views about the plan. "All the research to date continues to confirm the fact that the new owner of this complex needs the VA as its anchor tenant," the commissioners' letter said. "The VA currently uses one-third of the building; and Custer County would need rental income from this portion of the building to produce a positive cash flow. The county does not have the money needed to cover the total operating costs of the VA property. Therefore, the VA's $1-per-year lease is not a workable proposal." At the task force meeting, Commissioner Milo Huber said them commissioners have received no official response from Baucus's office yet. Liz Ching, a Billings-based aide to Baucus, said she would make sure the VA gets a copy of the commissioners' response to the senator, but will ask that they not respond to it until they get a more detailed proposal of what the county needs in order to take ownership of the building, as specified under a bill approved by Congress three years ago. She also advised that the commissioners or the task force keep the other two members of Montana's congressional delegation, who have both supported the transfer, aware of the county's position on the issue. Ching noted that the transfer legislation says nothing about either repairs or a $1-a-year lease. "We're asking them (the VA) to receive this information, but wait for the proposal," Ching said. Task Force Coordinator Cathy Byron said the group has not drafted a proposal because it is "more or less up to the commissioners." "The VA said from the beginning they would be an anchor tenant, and then they come up with this dollar-a-year proposal," Byron said, but added, "There are different ways of looking at it." Those different ways could include putting a time period on the token lease, or charging various costs such as utilities and maintenance in addition to the $1 per year. Task Force member Alyce Kuehn noted that the need for the heating system and roof was identified in the feasibility study, which was asked to flag major problems and items with less than 10 years usable life. "The VA takes up one-third of the space," Kuehn said at the meeting. "We need to reach 94- to 97-percent occupancy to cash flow at $10 per square foot. When you remove a third of that, you really bring a whole new level of calculating cash flow." Jim Bertrand, veterans' representative on the task force, said the token rent proposal was "scary."
Task force member Gary Cridland noted that Principi's letter said" request" rather than "demand." "I believe communications are open," he said. Kuehn said the VA's proposal may have been made in Washington, D.C., without a thorough understanding of the situation in Miles City. "We know what our capabilities are," Kuehn said. "They may not know them."
Training is Focus of Community Health Center Star Staff Writer A report on training to deal with the $389,000 grant for the Custer County Community Health Center, Inc., highlighted this month's board of director's meeting Tuesday night in the First Lutheran Church. President Janet Haughian said she, Mary Failing and Secretary Ann Tribby attended the training session in Billings for community health centers last week. Haughian said she would like to see all the board members attend such training, and recommended that four training sessions per year be held for CHC board members around Montana. The training provided examples of the grant award letter detailing the amounts and time period for the grant that the CCCHC will get in the future. The center will begin operations with the $389,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through its Bureau of Public Health. After Haughian's report, Dr. Randy Rauh of the board's personnel committee said three candidates for the center's executive director position, all from outside Miles City, were interviewed over the weekend. He said he does not expect any of the three will be called back for follow-on interviews. Rauh said the committee has many applicants and expects to have interviewed at least five more persons before the board's next meeting in October. Rauh said the board is looking for a "magic" combination of administrative ability and medical background, but would not dismiss a competent administrator who has no medical background, providing she or he had proven grant writing and process skills coupled to knowledge of federal government policies. "I'm more optimistic tonight than I was yesterday morning," Rauh said. An executive director for the center is expected to earn a salary in the range of $50,000 per year, plus benefits, and the board is looking for candidates from around the country, including Miles City. Before adjourning the meeting, the board agreed to begin procedures to secure Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement along with private insurance. The CCCHC will charge patients based on their ability to pay and will be reimbursed by the so-called third-party payers when possible. The center is required to pay for itself, but it is a non-profit enterprise. The fees charged are based on a patient's income and how that income compares to a federally set "poverty line" amount. The poverty line for a single person is $8,980 per year, for a family of two it is $12,120 and a family of three earning $15,260 is considered to be at the poverty line. Families earning at or below the poverty line would be billed nothing for the center's services, but persons and families earning above the poverty line would be billed in accordance with their ability to pay. As an example, a person earning $8,981-$11,225 could be charged 20 percent of the total cost for services. Several people and organizations in Custer County have contributed time and money to the health center, which will soon occupy the second floor of the Veterans Administration Medical Center on Winchester Avenue. People interested in helping the center in any fashion are asked to call Terry Hrubes at 232-0046. Many other administrative matters remain to be worked out, but two doctors have committed to providing services, and a dentist has inspected the dental facilities at the VA Center and will be ready to see patients when the center opens in December. The board's next meeting is October 14, at 7 p.m. in the First Lutheran Church on Cale Avenue.
By John Halbert, Star Staff Writer A letter from the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to Sen. Max Baucus regarding transfer of ownership of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center Facility in Miles City to Custer County is being considered by the county commissioners this week. However, little immediate action can be expected on the issue, as various groups need to be consulted and various costs estimated before any response can be prepared, according to Janet Kelly, chairwoman of the commissioners. The issue was to begin formal consideration before the commissioners Tuesday. "We need to get some monetary amounts," Kelly said Thursday. "The thing has always come down to, will the revenue it generates cover the cost of operation. As a public entity, we're not in the business for profit, but we've got to cover our costs." The letter from Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi to Baucus notes a conversation between the two about conveying the VA property to Custer county, and improvements the VA is planning that will reduce operating costs before that happens. Congress a couple years ago passed a law authorizing the conveyance of the property to Custer county if the commissioners wish to take it, but the commissioners have been wary of high operating costs on the 1q4.5-acre complex, and fear that will create a burden on county taxpayers. A major issue has been the high-pressure steam heat system, which requires round-the-clock attendance by someone certified to maintain it. It has been hoped that Congress or the VA would appropriate money to replace that with a low-pressure system that requires only periodic maintenance. According to Principi's June 26 letter, "VA will proceed with a project at the Miles City VA complex, which will result in a more cost-effective heating and cooling system. In addition...VA will proceed with the planned roof replacement project that we discussed." "VA intends to make these improvements with the understanding that the County intends to accept the property. The proposal to Custer County will request the approval of a $1/year lease-back rate following the building conveyance. This will allow VA to maintain its provision of clinical services to veterans of Montana in Miles City using the outpatient clinic and 30-bed Nursing Home Care Unit space currently operational." The commissioners received a copy of Principi's letter Aug. 1. Kelly left shortly afterward on vacation, and the remaining two commissioners took no action on it. Kelly, in her comments Thursday, said the VA Redevelopment Task Force, which has been actively working to find new uses for vacant space at the VA complex in order to preserve it, will be brought into the discussions.
The VA Redevelopment Task Force Hits Plateau By John Halbert, Star Staff Writer The VA Redevelopment Task Force has hit a plateau in its efforts, now facing a chicken-and-egg problem that will need more extensive information or an unforeseeable turn of events to alter the present equation.At the heart of the problem is the fact that the unused portions of the Veterans Affairs Complex in Miles City are in many ways unique in the region - there is just nothing to compare them to, in order to set rental rates, which in turn would allow a fiscal analysis to set up a cash-flow scenario, which would give the Custer County Commissioners the assurances they need to accept ownership of the complex without it becoming a burden on county taxpayers.There are improvements that could be made to trim down the operational costs of the building - primarily in the heating and cooling area, but in other areas as well. It might be possible to get federal money to make those improvements through a congressional appropriation. But that would take a major selling job on the part of the Montana delegation, backed by a specific plan to show how the funds will be used.But those improvements would be done best with the needs of specific tenants in mind, and without commitments from tenants, a specific plan will be difficult to devise. What it boils down to is something like this: Improvements are needed to cut costs and attract tenants, but without tenants in place, it is unlikely those improvements can be funded.Project Coordinator Cathy Byron outlined the problem at the February meeting of the VA Redevelopment Task Force Thursday. She drew heavily on a summary of feasibility study information that was presented there, which included excerpts of a letter she sent to Veterans Affairs Department officials."At this point, we do need an appropriation (from Congress)," she told the task force members. "We need to replace (heating and cooling) systems so it can be workable for the commissioners to accept it."But we're strapped because we don't know who a tenant might be. If you look at comparable facilities in the area - there are none."The consensus (of fiscal analysts) is that it is a waste of time and resources at this time to try to continue planning."In her letter, Byron wrote, "We have been advised, and the team concurs, that a cash flow/break even/fiscal analysis can proceed no further until a detailed market analysis is completed. We need a better picture of exactly how the space will be utilized to determine what the rental rates will (can) be, and from there, begin to develop a cash-flow analysis."The letter noted the negative impacts of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the downturn of the economy, but it also noted that several new possibilities could stem from changing situations and changing attitudes. It noted that some of the unused space, such as laboratories and surgical suites, is highly specialized."The next question becomes, 'What will the market bear for this highly specialized space?'"The team has determined that in order to get concrete answers to these questions, we need to assign an individual to an intense multi-state test-marketing endeavor across the Great Plains region for the specialized space in the VA complex."Byron in her letter noted several factors in the local, state and national economic spheres that offer reasons for long-term optimism, including increasing local expertise and networking, and an economic development action plan being formed by the state."We hear rumblings of corporations - and individuals - seeking to relocate to rural America away from the populace and higher risk of terrorist activities. We hear President Bush talking about economic revitalization plans. There has not been enough time for all of this to play out. The fruit is still green - it needs time to ripen."Among the results of the feasibility studies reviewed at the meeting, Byron noted that while there is a housing crisis in the region, "people are choosing to live in substandard houses rather than move to apartments.""It does not appear to be a lucrative endeavor to go to housing in this complex," she said. "It's overbuilt, unless it's (as a consultant suggested, remodeled for) that posh niche market."The members of the task force voted without dissent to accept the feasibility study findings as summarized. They also decided to hold quarterly rather than monthly meetings, with the possibility of special meetings as needed.The consensus of members was that the task force should press on, continuing to gather information and seek potential tenants. "Since we began, there have been lots of economic changes," said the Rev. Grover Briggs, a task force member. "Part of our task as a task force is to continue to organize ourselves to move through this low point in economic activity, and come out on the other side as a beneficiary of the business cycle."If we are there to offer space to businesses as they move out of this depressive economic experience - I thinks there's some big-picture perspective here that's important." [Top of Page]
By John Halbert, Star Staff Writer A
shattering economic bust in 1996 convinced the community leaders of Watford
City, N.D., of the need to diversify the local economy, and almost by
happenstance they turned to information technology to do it. Gene
Veeder, executive director of the McKenzie County Job Development Authority,
described the process for several audiences in Miles City May 2. Veeder and
Robert Pope of Nexus Innovations, a Bismarck, N.D., consulting firm, were in
Miles City to speak to community leaders and the general public about how
information technology and economic development can be used to improve a
community. Veeder
described McKenzie County — which borders Montana on its west — as heavily
dependent on agriculture and the energy industry. During 1996, several
energy-related companies pulled 80 production-level positions, most paying about
$45,000 a year, out of the community. Agriculture,
meanwhile, was also in the pits. Veeder,
who has had a varied career in North Dakota's university system and in banking
as well as returning to the family ranch his grandfather homesteaded south of
Watford City, was in economic development at the time. "The
damage that does to a community is phenomenal," he said. "Eighty percent
of those people ended up in my office. They wanted to stay in the community.
That told me something. We saw a need to re-educate these people before the
energy jobs went away." At
about the same time, a company that used information technology called him, on
reference from the state government. It told him that Watford City was among a
few locations being considered to locate a major facility, and it needed some
information, including the availability of a T1 line. Veeder
said he didn't even know what a T1 line was, or any of the other information the
company wanted to know. But that one company, had it relocated there, would have
more than replaced the jobs that were being lost. Over
the next several weeks, the process of finding out what he did not know started
Veeder and the community down the path that has brought in several new
businesses, and used technology and training to retain others that are able to
both pay their employees well and make profits. "The
reason I do what I do is because a guy at the high school had a vision,"
Veeder told a group of educators at the middle of three presentations made at
the Veterans Administration Facility. He went to
the teacher seeking information about a T1 line, which allows high-speed
Internet access. The math teacher knew about technology, explained about the T1
line, and said the high school could use one. No
one entity in Watford City had the $1,800 to acquire the line that the phone
company was reluctant to put in anyway, but a deal was worked out to where the
elementary school, the library, the county courthouse and the city offices used
wireless technology to share the capabilities of the T1 line that was installed
at the high school. Veeder
praised the community leaders for being willing to take risks, share what they
had, and work together for the community good rather than each seeking to
protect a small turf. "The
telling factor in Watford City was that the city and the county and the schools
see their mission as the same thing — not 'this is my money and this is your
money.' You've got to have collaboration," he said.
Veeder
described how the city and the county contributed money that developed a
computer lab training center based in the high school. The school uses it during
the day, and adults use it in the evening. "It
gets used 14 hours a day instead of three hours," Veeder said. "Our school
administrators believe the schools belong to the community — belong to
everybody. The lights are on until 10 o'clock at night."
He
noted that when one tech business came to town, it actually based in the high
school for about six months, using the Internet connections and equipment there
until its own could be set up. Pope
said that as he watched Watford City use the resources offered by the school,
"It differentiated from other communities that are having trouble with
public schools." A
man from Baker asked to clarify, that Watford City's success has been due to the
collaboration of the city and county and schools. "And
the senior center and the hospital and anyone else you can find," Veeder
replied. He added that the cooperators pool money for training and retraining
scholarships, and to provide equipment for private businesses that will help
those businesses create jobs. He
noted that while people are now being drawn to the community, it no longer has
people desperately seeking jobs. "We're fully employed at Watford
City," he said. He noted later that he had talked to a Miles City woman who
was working two jobs at $6 per hour, and going to school full time as well to be
able to get a better job. "I
don't think there's any $6 jobs in Watford City," Veeder said.
Information Technology Now
Pervading Agriculture By
John Halbert, Star Staff Writer Applications
of information technology in agriculture range from advertising ranch
recreational opportunities on the World Wide Web to bouncing signals off
satellites to control fertilizer applications. Gene
Veeder, executive director of the McKenzie County Job Development Authority, is
also operating the 3,000-acre cattle ranch his grandfather homesteaded 28 miles
south of Watford City, N.D. His
job in Watford City and throughout McKenzie County is to find high-quality jobs,
and information technology has been the vehicle for much of his success.
But
he has also seen information technology save some farm and ranch operations in
his county, and has seen it provide some worthwhile efficiencies. It
is also likely to transform point-source identification in the beef industry as
it already has in the dairy industry, he said. Veeder
noted that the nature of agricultural economics has changed in its very basics.
"Those 3,000 acres raise my grandfather's family and my father's
family," Veeder said. "It doesn't raise my family." But
he also noted that technology allows him to feed in an hour the cattle that his
father needed all day to feed. Veeder
worked in banking before getting into economic development, and said that one of
the most educational, yet worst experiences of his life was having to pencil out
the operations of ranches he had always thought of as prosperous, and realizing
there was no way they could be made to work. "You
know something has to be done," he said. But
as an economic development person, he has seen some successes. Veeder recounted
how he challenged one rancher to make his idea for a guest ranch unique among
the hundreds of guest ranches scattered across the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming and
Colorado. What
the rancher did was seek out Internet websites centered on interest in
all-terrain vehicles — people interested in four-wheelers. He also contacted
an industry magazine. His marketing focused on family recreation. "His
guests were all moms and dads and kids, not the screaming bikers everybody was
afraid of," Veeder said. "And he's got 95-percent return business. He
earned 30,000 additional dollars in his ranch operation, all web-based sales
that saved his ranch, and didn't change his life a lick." He
said he knows of seven or eight operations where web-based tourism has saved the
ranch. Other
areas where information technology will affect agriculture include
satellite-based global positioning system and geographical information systems
that improve irrigating and fertilizing efficiency. Veeder said he has heard of
operations that have doubled their production using that technology. He
noted that Moo Juice Dairy near Sidney is a high-tech operation that can use
point-source identification to ensure the safety of its product. While such a
system is not in place for beef yet, Veeder said he foresees it, based on the
demands of the market. "Technology
is the only way to do that," he said. "You can't escape it." [Top
of Page]
by John Halbert, Star Staff Writer Despite
being more than a half century old, the buildings of the Veterans Affairs
Department complex in Miles City are well cared for and in good shape, a
consultant told the VA Redevelopment Task Force Thursday. Holly
Elmer, a geologist working for the L.A. Group of Sarasota Springs, N.Y., on a VA
contract, said she knows of nothing that would prevent transfer of the property
or pose problems for a new business moving into the complex. "You'd
just have to change the sign out front," Elmer said. "It's in pretty
good shape." She
said she is nearly done with her segment of an environmental assessment and
study of how the property complies with the National Environmental Policy Act.
That report, due out April 16, is needed before the VA can transfer title to the
property to any other entity. The
VA Redevelopment Task Force is a grass-roots group that for the past two years
has been seeking new uses for the unused space in the complex, while preserving
the VA outpatient clinic and nursing home that take up about a third of the
former 100-bed hospital. Congress
has approved legislation to transfer title for the property to Custer County,
should the county agree to accept it. The Custer County Commissioners have
placed several conditions on that acceptance, including a feasibility study that
shows how the facility can be operated in a way that does not place any burden
on local taxpayers, and reassurance that any hazardous materials in the building
will not create problems in the future. Custer
County Commissioner Janet Kelly asked Elmer what hazardous materials exist in
the buildings. Elmer
replied that asbestos, lead-based paint and Mastic, a glue used on tile, were
used in early construction. Currently, those pose no problem because they are
adequately enclosed. "If
they were exposed, they would need special handling," she said. She added
that there are also gasoline storage tanks in the outbuildings that might need
special handling in the future. Elmer
said she expects her report to note that some of the 1948-era buildings are
considered historic, and that the new owner may need to file a report with state
historic preservation authorities if major renovations, such as new windows, are
considered. Task
Force member Kathy Doeden noted that the merits of applying to list the facility
on the National Register of Historic Places were considered earlier, and the
group had decided not to do so. She asked whether Elmer thought there would be
any advantage to do so. "Probably
not," Elmer replied. "People who might be interested (in renting
business space) would be put off by the historic listing. They won't think fiber
optic. So I wouldn't, for now. I think later on you might want to." One
of the advantages the campus offers is its up-to-date technological
capabilities. "This
facility is in wonderful shape," Elmer said after the meeting. "It's
been well maintained. "It's
got everything that anybody who wants to open a business would want, plus the
fiber optic, which is the way to go." She
said she has seen other redevelopment groups in her work across the country, but
rarely with so many people involved. "You've
got a lot of potential here, a lot of energy," she said. VA
Redevelopment Project Coordinator Cathy Byron praised VA for "We
knew the environmental/NEPA study would be a big part of the In
other business, Byron said the task force has received a $50,000 grant from the
United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Business Opportunity Program to
study the feasibility of converting part of the facility into a technical
education center, as well as for the general feasibility study that is now in
Phase 2 of its planned course. Miles
City Star Publisher Dan Killoy, who participated in a tour of the technical
center being developed in Watford City, N.D., outlined the Star's sponsorship of
a visit in May by Gene Veeder, organizer of the technical center, and Robert
Pope of Nexus Innovations, which handled much of the center's technical
development. "If
you want to build a fire in this community, you need the people with
matches," Killoy said. He said the visit has now become a two-day affair,
with Veeder and Cope to meet with public officials, school officials, members of
the business community and the general public. Task
Force member Sandra Anderson said, "They will look at the drive, commitment
and unity in this community. They said they will give their honest views." Killoy
said the visitors are expected to offer advice as well as "What
Gene Veeder brings to the party is that you can do it," Killoy said.
"Miles City has 10 times more than Watford City had to start with. We've
got a 50-gallon drum; they had a thimble. "Every
business gets a knock on the door from people with a good idea, who want money
for their project, and as business people you want to be involved in the
community. But you don't get many opportunities like this." The
visit is planned for May 2-3, and times for a couple of meetings are already
set. One is planned for 5-6:30 p.m. May 2, while the task force meeting is set
for noon to 2 p.m. May 3. Both are open to the public.
Workforce, Industry, Education
All Currently in Extreme Flux By John Halbert, Star Staff Writer Changes
in industry are driving changes in the nation's workforce, which in turn will
force major changes in higher education over the next decade, according to
Robert Ketchum of Northern Idaho College.
Ketchum
is the executive director of NIC's Workforce Training Center, which is geared
toward short-term courses that address specific worker and business needs.
He
spoke late last week at a VA Redevelopment Task Force meeting in Miles City.
That group is seeking new uses for the Veterans Affairs Complex here, and one
idea for that has been a technical training center similar to NIC's, operated by
Miles Community College. "Community colleges were created to democratize education," Ketchum said. "Sadly, some community colleges have started to ape the senior institutions by having entrance standards. "Training centers are sort of the bleeding edge back into this democratization and meeting students where they are. And if we don't, businesses will, because the market out there is tremendous." He
stressed that 75 percent of America's workers will need significant retraining
sometime in the next decade. Ketchum spoke of a "prosperity gap" now
occurring in America. The real wages of people with a high school education
continue to fall, and low skills mean low wages. The
traditional profile of an American industrial worker — high school educated,
unionized, doing manual work in a manufacturing plant at moderate to high wages
until a comfortable retirement — has passed into history or gone overseas, he
said.
"But
there are real wage increases, with education (beyond a high school diploma) of
less than a year," Ketchum added. He noted that the number of jobs in
American industry that demand a traditional, four-year baccalaureate degree has
remained about the same since 1940 — about 20 percent. But
the number of jobs that require a high school diploma or less has gone from the
vast majority to a very small percentage. So the category in between — jobs
for people with some after-high-school training, but less than a formal college
degree — has "grown tremendously," Ketchum said.
That
change in the needs of American business will force major changes in American
education, he said, and the education establishment will change more in the next
10 years than it has in the past 150 years.
Education
will be available anywhere, anytime, he said, and the needs of business will
drive it. Education will be forced to adapt to business's standards, and measure
outcomes and results rather than inputs.
That
means instead of showing accreditation boards how much money was spent on new
buildings and how many papers its professors have published, a school will need
to show that its graduates have learned what it taught.
Schools
that don't keep businesses' needs squarely in mind are in danger of losing out
to new forms of education, Ketchum said. He cited the example of the Community
Colleges of Spokane, where two years ago, a new chief executive officer saw a
need to improve business-oriented education and formed the Inland Northwest
Technical Education Center. That effort garnered tremendous community support.
But
a month ago, the INTEC board decided not to continue a close relationship with
the Community Colleges of Spokane, citing a need to ensure INTEC will remain
responsive to the needs of business.
"INTEC
didn't trust the community colleges to be progressive enough. So they have lost
two grants, and now they have a competitor," Ketchum said. "That's an
example of what I don't want to see happen."
In industry, he said, education and skill have become outpaced equipment and capital in importance. In education, a "quality movement" that focuses on "process improvement" has started on the East Coast, imitating the outcome-oriented evaluations of hospitals. "It's coming our way," he said. "In the next 10 or 15 years will see great changes in education, driven by forces out of our control. Productivity gains in industry have eliminated the need of middle management to shuffle paper." Ketchum
noted that all the nation's banks now rely on two or three national
organizations to handle all their basic bookkeeping. He predicted that
education's "information infrastructure" will reform its traditional
administration and centralize many functions.
"I think there's going to be a railroad train running through that (educational administration) in the next 10 years," Ketchum said. That can extend to curriculum and the use of online materials as enhanced textbooks for instructors at many schools. Those "outsourcing partnerships" will provide much of the course material that higher education of any type will use. "As scary as it may be to some people, I think it's an inevitability. We'll see some major universities have to rush out to create these partnerships," he said. Ketchum
added that accreditation standards have just changed to allow colleges to offer
fully "outsourced" courses — those developed by companies or
institutions for sale — if those courses have been reviewed by the college's
curriculum council.
"That
is going to change higher education big time over the next 10 years," he
said. "That'll really change the educational landscape.” Some schools have been trying to generate their own online courses. "Building an inner empire like that just sucks up money like nobody's business," Ketchum said, adding that often the material generated, in his view, falls short on quality compared to that offered by professional companies such as Ed2Go. "These
schools have to find partners, and find them fast," he said. "They
should focus on what community colleges do well, and that's personalized
training." [Top of Page]
Mid-Rivers Donates Labor for Project By John Halbert, Star Staff Writer Work
has been going on to connect the Veterans Affairs Complex in Miles City to a
broad-band fiber optic network, as well as local telephone service. The
connection is being made through the nearby Miles City National Guard Armory.
The project is a contribution from Circle-based Mid-Rivers Telephone Cooperative
to the VA Redevelopment Task Force, which is coordinating efforts to find new
tenants and a new ownership structure for the former 100-bed VA hospital. The
VA's clinic and nursing home now occupy only about a third of the available
space. "If
we provide them with band width to provide that capability, we hope that will
attract other tenants," said Mid-Rivers General Manager Gerry The
connections Mid-Rivers is donating are valued at $40,000. In addition to the
fiber-optic connections, copper wire for local Mid-Rivers telephone service is
also being installed. Anderson
said it is a business decision to offer that service availability. "It is
also a business decision that someone will need those facilities before spring,
which is why we're doing that now," he said. The work is expected to be
completed in about two weeks, weather permitting — "Before Christmas,
hopefully." The
VA Redevelopment Task Force has been seeking donations as local match for
funding its next year of operations. The task force had asked Mid-Rivers for
$1,000. "Because
of the sizable investment ($40,000) Mid-Rivers is making in "Mid-Rivers
strongly supports your project but must try to balance contributions among
numerous worthwhile projects throughout its service area." In
a telephone interview, Anderson also noted other facets of Mid-Rivers'
increasing presence in Miles City. The co-op has purchased the former Western
Security Bank building on Main Street near Montana Avenue, and will develop that
as a customer service center. Mid-Rivers
has also purchased two lots on the northwest corner of the Pleasant
Street-Montana Avenue intersection, which will be used to put up switching
facilities. Sometime
about midyear or into the third quarter, Mid-Rivers hopes to offer local and
long-distance service in parts of Miles City, probably first in the downtown
business district, Anderson said. "Those are the tentative plans at this point," he said. [Top of page] |
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