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National company sees growth potential in Mary’s new engineering program and opportunities for its continued leadership in workforce development benefiting North Dakotans for generations to come

BISMARCK, ND—The Energy Transfer / Sunoco Foundation and Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), announced a $5 million commitment to the ���˲ؾ���’s Vision 2030 campaign at a press conference held today on campus. Three of the $5 million dollars is a contribution towards the ���˲ؾ���’s new state-of-the-art engineering facility while $2 million will be given for workforce development in the state.

The $3 million portion will help fund ���˲ؾ���’s new 18,200-square-foot state-of-the-art engineering facility. Construction will start within six months, as requests for proposals (RFPs) have recently gone out. Currently, there are 60 freshmen and sophomores enrolled in the engineering program since it began two years ago, with another 40 to 50 incoming freshmen expected this fall.

With record enrollment, and attracting more that 50 percent of its student body from outside the state, the ���˲ؾ��� intends to use the remaining $2 million – to be presented at a later time in concert with the announcement of a comprehensive plan – to help develop and equip North Dakota’s talent pool of skilled workers in engineering, computer programming, IT, and other areas of critical need. This effort is in line with ���˲ؾ���’s and ETP’s commitment to the state of North Dakota and leadership in workforce issues.

“We are so humbled and thankful to receive this gift, which accomplishes two things in harmony with one another,” said ���˲ؾ��� President Monsignor James Shea. “Our engineering program will help solidify the industry need and will also help fulfill the intense need for workforce development. Our aim is to form engineers who are both at the top of their field in terms of their academic and technical preparation, but also who are culturally prepared for the workplace and ready to become employees of choice as well as fine citizens. It’s exciting because a few years ago the engineering industry asked for our help and support to be a hub in western North Dakota for talented, smart, innovative, liberal arts and values-based engineering students who can be integrated into the workforce from a new School of Engineering here on campus. This gift advances that noble cause.”

“This contribution is part of our commitment to be a valued business partner in North Dakota,” stated Kelcy Warren, chairman and CEO of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, which was named as one of Forbes’ 2017 Best Large Employers. “We are pleased to have the opportunity to help more young men and women become engineers through Mary’s growing program. We are also happy to support Mary’s continued leadership in developing North Dakota’s workforce for generations to come.”

This donation brings ���˲ؾ���’s record-setting three-phased Vision 2030 Capital Campaign total to over $81 million—only $15 million shy of its Phase One goal of $96 million. When the campaign is completed in 12 years it will have raised a total of $272 million.

With over 200,000 square-feet of new space created on campus within the last two years, Vision 2030 is part of a continued effort and mission to better serve the needs of this region and beyond — begun in 1959 by the university’s founders, the Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation Monastery.

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True to its motto “lumen vitae”—the Light of Life—the ���˲ؾ��� offers education for the whole of life through cutting-edge professional programs grounded in a solid liberal arts tradition.

A Christian, Catholic, Benedictine institution founded in 1959 by the Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation Monastery, Mary offers over 60 undergraduate degrees, 14 master’s degrees, and four doctoral programs in Occupational Therapy, Education, Nursing Practice and Physical Therapy. With over 3,000 students, Mary has locations in North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, Arizona, Rome and Milan, Italy and Arequipa, Peru as well as vibrant online offerings. For more information, visit www.umary.edu.