Northwestern Michigan College’s Next Level aviation project receives two anonymous donations

Northwestern Michigan College has received two anonymous donations for its Next Level: The Campaign for NMC Aviation project. One donation was in the amount of $150,000 and the other was for $100,000, bringing the campaign’s private donor funding total to $390,000 of its $1 million goal. In total, the project will cost $14 million, with $3.75 million already coming from the state of Michigan and $550,000 coming from federal funding.

According to an article on Northwestern Michigan College’s website, Alex Bloye, who is the director of the Aviation Division, said, “We are thrilled and so grateful to these two donors for supporting the Next Level campaign. As the only two-year flight school in the state, we have the unique opportunity to efficiently train the pilots our world desperately needs. Expanding our hangar and fleet will increase the number of students, and ultimately the number of future pilots, we can admit each year. It’s a win for them, a win for our regional economy and a win for our world, which is relying more and more on air travel every year.”

Next Level: The Campaign for NMC Aviation aims to enhance the Aviation Division by expanding the aircraft hangar, on which ground was broken in October, purchasing four new aircrafts, including Cessna Skyhawks, and relocating the program’s classrooms. Each of these improvements will allow the program to admit more students each year and continue educating future pilots.

Expansion of the hangar includes increasing its storage capacity to allow up to eight additional planes. Each additional plane acquired gives the program the ability to train 10 more students. The hangar will also be modernized for energy savings, including its HVAC system and its windows. 

These two anonymous donations are the largest the Next Level campaign has received to date.

For more information about Northwestern Michigan College, visit the school’s website.