NWACC OKs lease restructuring

Agreement enables college to free up money for center Student population

BENTONVILLE — The Northwest Arkansas Community College Foundation is one step closer to paying for a new Washington County center.

The foundation owns some of the community college’s buildings and is taking the lead on the new project. The college leases space from the foundation.

College trustees agreed Thursday to restructure leases with the foundation. Northwest Arkansas Community College enrolled 7,715 students during the fall semester. Of those, 2,762 students, or 36 percent, lived in Washington County, according to college figures. The foundation will then refinance some debt and free up money for the Washington County center.

The college pays the foundation just more than $1 million annually to lease the National Child Protection Training Center, the Shewmaker Global Business Development Center and for bond repayment for the parking garage, according to Ron Branscum’s presentation at the special board meeting. Branscum is on the Finance Committee.

The new arrangement will increase the college’s payments to the foundation by $154,393, which will come from operating expenses, he said.

The foundation has raised $3.6 million for the estimated $10 million to $12 million project. Officials will break ground June 27.

The foundation will continue to raise money for the Washington County center, which will give it the ability to prepay on the debt to build it. For every advanced principal payment of $1 million, the college’s lease to the foundation will be reduced by $85,000, Branscum said.

“Based on the foundation raising and paying down $2 million on principal, we’re basically at a net level at this point,” he said. “That helps give me comfort in the face that we just need to continue the fundraising effort and eventually it’ll be a net effect for the college, which is great.”

This will largely depend on the success of fundraising, said Joe Spivey, board chairman.

Branscum said he believed the foundation would be able to get to the point where the lease expense was reduced within two to three years.

“As a board member, hearing all the efforts that are being expended on the fundraising side, I think that’s reasonable,” he said, noting that he was commenting on the foundation’s behalf.

The 35,000- square- foot center in Washington County will be built on 20 acres next to Arvest Ballpark and the recently opened Arkansas Children’s Northwest hospital in Springdale.

The center will eliminate the need for the 25,000 square feet in three Washington County locations the college leases, and it will help increase tuition revenue as it provides more space for more students, said Evelyn Jorgenson, NWACC president.

“The best way forward is to get the building built, have the enrollment grow and go forward from there,” she said.

The Washington County center has been on the horizon for at least 10 to 12 years, Spivey said.

“We’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, possibly,” he said. “It’s not a freight train.”