Preparation underway for tech center
$6.5 million still needed to meet building’s fundraising goals
Skiff Staff

University Advancement officials will contact two corporations in the next two weeks to begin a push to raise funds among high-tech firms for the Tucker Technology Center, said Valerie DeSantis, director of corporate relations.

Maria Adamczyk/PHOTO EDITOR A construction worker welds part of the William E. and Jean Jones Tucker Technology Center building together Thursday. This view is from the hallway in the building.

DeSantis said she hopes to contact 15 to 20 corporations to ask for donations by the end of the university’s fiscal year in June.

But the $6.5 million still needed to meet the building’s fund-raising goal isn’t likely to come from this drive, said Bronson Davis, vice chancellor for university advancement.

“If we raise $250,000 from corporations, I will be ecstatic,” Davis said. “The economy is so bad, the timing of this is horrible.”

Because of a slowing economy that triggered fund-raising woes, the university has raised $18.5 million of the building’s $25 million cost, 20 percent of which is dedicated to its endowment, Davis said.

Davis said the building’s endowment covers operating costs, such as utilities and maintenance, over the lifetime of the facility. The university’s operating budget will cover these costs when the building opens for classes this fall, he said.

Davis and DeSantis both said it is unlikely the university will raise $6.5 million by the time the building opens. They cite the poor economy as a reason why.

DeSantis said the bear market, a struggling economy, has left high-tech corporations with little money to donate.

“It is probably not the best time to raise money,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis said she is optimistic the fund-raising drive will raise a substantial sum of money despite the bad economy.

“Some of our companies are doing well, and earnings are up,” she said. “That makes it a little more plausible.”

Carefully researched donation requests will be tailored to the financial circumstances of each firm, DeSantis said. Several firms in financial distress that were originally on the university’s list of donors were removed as others in better circumstances were added, she said.

This is all in an attempt to raise more funds in shaky financial times, she said.

“We want qualified asks,” DeSantis said. “If you are reading news they are having financial issues, it probably isn’t the time (to ask for money).”

DeSantis said she can’t release the names of companies to be solicited for donations.

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