ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ College chooses to invest in the local community — both to contribute responsibly to important public resources and also to help the town be a strong asset in attracting students, faculty, and staff. ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ College’s commitment to the community is longstanding: nearly $500,000 in local investments each year for the last 25 years to support shared community priorities in health and safety, education, downtown development, public infrastructure, and placemaking.
Focus Areas
ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ College’s local investments have supported College and community strategic priorities, such as:
- education
- healthcare
- public infrastructure
- downtown development
- historic preservation/adaptive re-use
- parks and recreation
- economic development
Considerations
When considering participation, ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ College works with community leadership on a project-by-project basis and typically looks for:
- impact on the College and broader community
- degree of community support/partnership
Financial Approaches
ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ College employs a varied toolbox, customizing the financial approach to the project at hand. Approaches we have used to date include:
Donations. Cash or real estate donations to community capital improvements. Past examples include:
- new elementary school
- medical center improvements
- high school additions/renovations (gym, auditorium, and science wing)
- public safety building
- public library
- park and trail improvements
Investments. Equity investments in local LLCs with community enhancement purposes. Current examples include:
- Strand Theatre, LLC
- Greater ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Development Inc.
Campus Improvements with a Community Focus. College facilities specifically designed to address both campus and community needs, including:
- Renfrow Hall: A unique facility at the nexus between the College campus and ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½â€™s central business district. This project, comprised of a student residence and the Katherine Howell Weingart ’61 Civic Innovation Pavilion, honors Edith Renfrow Smith, ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ College class of ’37 and ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ High School class of ’32 — and, like its namesake, links the town and College together in shared experiences.
- STEW Makerspace: A collaboration between the Wilson Center and the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Area Arts Council, the Stew is a community workshop that helps people explore their creativity.
- : College bookstore on the downtown square.
- Old Glove Factory: Adaptive reuse of a historic manufacturing plant into College offices and community meeting space.
- Osgood Natatorium: College aquatic center designed to accommodate both campus and community competitive swimming including youth and high school swim teams.
- 8th and 10th Avenues: Traffic calming, as well as service and streetscape improvements for busy city streets bisecting campus.
Buying Local. Each year, ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ College student spending contributes over $4 million in local economic impact. In 2023, a student initiative expanded on this, working with Dining Services to create a Downtown Dining Dollars program at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ businesses, which now includes five local establishments. The College does not currently collect any income from these transactions. Instead, local businesses receive all payments directly from students’ dining dollar balances through the College’s dining card system (excluding small service and transaction fees), with the added bonus of reimbursing all businesses within 48 hours of purchase. To date, the program redirects nearly $200,000/year to local businesses.
ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ establishments accepting dining dollars include: