By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
All boats rise in high tides: if it’s good for Barton Community College, it’s good for Barton County and all the communities we live in. That’s how Dr. Marcus Garstecki, BCC president, opened Thursday morning's announcement from Sen. Jerry Moran at the college’s KanEquip Learning Center. Moran was in Great Bend to announce a $425,000 allocation to the school’s CDL and ag-tech program.
“Congress has a piece of legislation that we just passed – passed by the house, passed by the senate, signed by the president – there’s designated spending for Barton Community College for workforce training within the CDL program and the ag-tech program, for purposes of buying equipment,” Moran said.
In 2024, Barton opened the KanEquip Learning Center, which houses programs like agriculture business management, crop protection, commercial driver’s license, and the Top Tech ag mechanics programs. Garstecki called Tuesday’s announcement a game-changer for the school.
“These are large pieces of equipment that we would have a challenge being able to fund on our own,” he said. “For example, we’re going to have a new semi in our CDL program. Without these funds to help us, that’s something that would be on the wish list for a long time. Our students are going to get trained on the best equipment, state of the art, and that’s what truly prepares them for what they’re going to see in the workforce.”
Garstecki said a critical piece of the mission at Barton Community College is to prepare students for high-paying jobs and careers. Mike Johnson, chairman of the Barton Board of Trustees, explained how junior colleges play a role.
“The Kansas community college system currently provides over 70 percent of all technical training in the state of Kansas,” Johnson said. “This federal funding we received was instrumental in allowing Barton to purchase some of the critical equipment needed for this facility we are standing in today, and helps us continue our mission to provide quality education to our students, and to provide local employees for our employers.”
Moran said the money allocated to Barton is not additional tax dollars being spent, but rather money that was already going somewhere. He has made a push to give tax dollars to law enforcement and workforce-related causes.
“Every time we have the opportunity to help a community college or technical college have the resources necessary to train workers for business that are already looking for students with those capabilities, we’re looking for opportunities to designate those funds,” said Moran.
Garstecki said students in those programs will benefit from using state-of-the-art equipment and technology, but Thursday’s announcement will also benefit instructors.
“At the end of the day, we have some of the best instructors around,” Garstecki said. “You will not find a better group who teach in this building and around our campus day in and day out. But we also know when we equip them with the best tools, it only enhances the educational experience and training they are able to give to our students. That’s critical to the job we do.”