UI students are in business-Community rallies to bring university a top-notch business building

MOSCOW _ Without any help from the state, the University of Idaho has managed to open a $15.6 million business school this fall.

Thanks to donations from regional companies and UI alumni, the College of Business and Economics moved into the state-of-the-art J.A. Albertson Building, its first permanent home, in August.

Hannelore Sudermann
Staff writer Spokesman Review

"It is something that we always dreamed of," said business dean Byron Dangerfield.

But the Albertson Building is not just UI’s newest structure. It belongs to corporate donors like the J.R. Simplot Co., Potlatch Corp., Avista Utilities, Jacklin Seed, Idaho Power and Micron Technology. Without them, the project would not have gotten off the ground.

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Building tour
A gala to celebrate the new building is planned for 3 p.m. Oct. 25 in the J. Richard Rock Forecourt on the north side. Visitors can tour the building and hear remarks from Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, UI President Bob Hoover and campaign co-chair Gary Michael.

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Four years ago, the business college had classes and offices scattered throughout campus. When a campus planner picked the annex behind the century-old Administration Building as a future home for the psychology department, Dangerfield realized it was time to act. "Here we had a college for 70 years that had not had its own building," he said.

Dangerfield told the planner that the business school could probably raise some of the money for a renovation, and the fate of the annex was set. But when the state budget for new campus projects turned sour, Dangerfield turned to UI alumnus Gary Michael, a former CEO of Albertsons Inc.

An initial $2 million from Michael and his wife, Meryl Kay, quickly tripled to $6 million through money from Albertsons Inc. and the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation.

The project grew from a simple annex remodel to a 55,000-square-foot three-story brick, stone and glass structure that will meet the needs of 1,200 business students as well as the regional business community.

The pace of the fund raising slowed, but ultimately more than 40 people and businesses donated $100,000 or more. Simplot, Potlatch, Avista, and Micron all made large contributions and all have their names on classrooms and lecture halls.

The building is named for Joe Albertson, founder of the Albertson chain of grocery stores and mentor to Michael.

"This is the best money I ever spent," Michael recently told the university. "This college is changing how we think about business education and is a solid investment in the future."

The old annex became office space, and builders added a large wing for lecture halls, high-tech multimedia classrooms and space for team teaching. The new building also has room for classes in other disciplines as well as 65 university employees.

In the basement sits the "Barker’s Bulls and Bears Trading Room," named for UI alumnus Rotchford Barker, a former director at the Chicago Board of Trade as well as a key donor to the project. Thanks to Barker, students will be able to trade stocks online by next fall.

And last, but not least, thanks to the private donors, taxpayers won’t have a mortgage to pay for the new building, say college officials.

"We have such wonderfully supportive alumni and friends," said Mary Rutheford, development director for the College of Business and Economics. "They made this possible."

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=101702&ID=s1236003&cat=section.business