
Bank of Kentucky Invests $1 Million in Gateway Urban Campus
The Bank of Kentucky, Inc., has committed $1 million to the Gateway Community & Technical
College Foundation for use in developing Gateway's Urban Campus in downtown Covington.
The gift is the first investment of $1 million or more ever received by the college
or the foundation. It is the latest in series of major announcements related to the
campus in recent weeks.
The Bank of Kentucky is pleased to make this investment to assist the college in
its goal to make higher education more accessible to the residents of the urban core,
said Robert W. Zapp, president of The Bank of Kentucky. We believe strongly in the
concept of the Urban Campus and the positive influence it will have on the revitalization
and future growth of the city and the region, as well as the opportunities it will
provide for students.
In recognition of the banks investment, the Kentucky Community and Technical College
System board of regents, at its Dec. 7 meeting, approved Gateway's request to name
an existing facility at the Boone Campus The Bank of Kentucky Classroom and Training
Center.
The colleges board of directors and the Gateway Foundation supported the KCTCS boards
action. The center is the first building in the history of the college to be named
in recognition of a significant contribution by a donor or in honor an individual.
As the Urban Campus takes shape over the next few years, Gateway also will name a
significant interior space for The Bank of Kentucky.
We are deeply grateful for The Bank of Kentucky's strong endorsement of the Urban
Campus through this generous gift, said Ed Hughes, Gateway president and CEO. Gateway
and The Bank of Kentucky are both regional institutions with stakeholders across the
depth and breadth of the area. We are pleased to recognize this gift now by putting
The Bank of Kentucky name on a building at the Boone Campus and later on an appropriate
interior space at the Urban Campus.
The Bank of Kentucky Classroom and Training Center at the Boone Campus is a 30,000-square-foot
building that houses Gateway's Workforce Solutions Division, general classrooms, industrial
labs and meeting rooms often used by a variety of Northern Kentucky organizations
and employers. Workforce Solutions collaborates extensively with local business and
industry to provide workforce preparation and customized training for businesses and
incumbent workers.
The building opened in 2005 and was the first constructed specifically for Gateway.
The facility has become a hub for our business and industry partners across the Northern
Kentucky region, Hughes said. He said the college will conduct a rededication ceremony
at the Boone building in the spring.
Gateway Community & Technical College is a linchpin of economic development in the
Northern Kentucky region, and we are particularly pleased to have our name associated
with the classroom and training facility, Zapp said.
Gateway announced Nov. 14 the details of a Master Plan for an $82 million Urban Campus
in downtown Covington to replace an aging facility on Amsterdam Road on the city's western
edge. The new downtown campus will complement Gateway's existing locations in Edgewood
and Florence.
The Urban Campus plan features the adaptive re-use of nine existing properties Gateway
is purchasing in Covington. Those properties, along with new construction, provide
an overall framework that will transform the regions urban core into a vibrant college
community with opportunities for economic development as well as educational improvement,
Hughes said.
Lee Flischel, chairman of the Gateway Foundation board, and Zapp are leading the
Campaign for Gateway, which is seeking to raise at least $5 million to begin the early
stages of the Urban Campus and additional private funding during the next three to
five years.
The Bank of Kentucky investment adds significant momentum to the foundations ongoing
effort to raise the funds necessary to make the Urban Campus a reality, Flischel said.
We appreciate the generosity of one of our regions leading corporate citizens and
the example it sets for others who will benefit from the dramatic difference the Urban
Campus will make on the economic vitality of Covington.
The banks board of directors and I hope that our investment will indeed be a catalyst
for others in the region to invest in the college, Zapp said.