CWI President Gordon Jones
Dear friend of mine, GORDON JONES is often my defense partner in hockey but just as important is the fact that he is president of the up-and-coming College of Western Idaho. David SPARKS Idaho Ag Today and I had a chance to talk with GORDON about an exciting new program.
Gordon, from my perspective, because I'm an agriculture. Exciting news. Apparently CWI has a new agricultural and horticultural center. Speaker2: Many listeners may not know. College of Western Idaho in Nampa is supporting southwest Idaho and all the jobs and the economy that make up this great part of the state. One of the most critical ones of those is agriculture, whether it be from our row crops to the various animal sciences, emerging industries like hops and viticulture. Canyon County alone has over $500 million in ag exports. And so College of Western Idaho we're focused on affordable education that leads to employment, is interested in supporting those jobs that come with that. And so we've just recently opened a new 40 acre ag and horticulture complex. Simplot Family Foundation and Kirkham Seed Company, among many other employers, have been instrumental in helping this first rate facility get opened up and support students who might be interested in pursuing jobs in those areas. Speaker1: Give me an overview of. Speaker2: The school was chartered in 2007. First classes were in 2009, and we've grown already to serving over 34,000 individuals each year. Coming from southwest Idaho, 98% of our students come from Idaho. The vast majority of those come from southwest Idaho area. Speaker1: Terrific hockey player, but better guy.
