Gateway Names Mazak Benefactor Of The Year

Gateway Community & Technical College has named the Mazak Corporation as Benefactor of the Year for 2010. The award was presented recently at the 11th annual Kentucky Community and Technical College System Presidents Gala and Benefactors Awards Dinner in Lexington. Gateway is a member of KCTCS.

Mazak was recognized for its strong community partnership with Gateway, according to Laura Cook Kroeger, vice president of resource development and external affairs at Gateway and executive director of the Gateway Foundation.

Gateway and Mazak have worked together to meet the workforce needs of the regions manufacturers, Kroeger said. Mazak founded two scholarships at Gateway that not only support students in manufacturing technology but also encourage minority students to attend college.

Kroeger added that Mazak has provided cutting-edge equipment to the colleges machine tool program and has created an apprenticeship program for recent high school graduates to connect on-the-job experience with college classes. As a member of Gateway's Manufacturers Consortium, Mazak also assisted in the development of Gateway's new Center for Advanced Manufacturing.

Mazak, one of the worlds pre-eminent machine tool manufacturers, has its North American headquarters in Florence near Gateway's Boone Campus.