New SOWI building rises on the hill
Roseburg businesses and organizations, who have donated nearly $2.5 million to help build the $6.17 million Southern Oregon Wine Institute building at UCC, are hoping that the new viticulture program will help grow tourism in Douglas County.
SOWI’s capital campaign has now raised more funds locally (excluding grants) than any other campaign in Douglas County history. Local companies, like Avista, donated thousands.
The building is named after Danny Lang, a local attorney who provided a sizeable donation to help kick off the campaign.
Over the last few months, the building project has really taken off. It is hard to miss the construction on the hill. President Nisson broke ground on September 13, 2010. Also in September, R.E. Noah and Co. was named as the general contractor.
The UCC school board meeting minutes note that “the first bids for phase one have gone out and all [were] awarded to local contractors.”
Dedication of the Danny Lang building is scheduled for September 9, 2011, as a leading activity for the 42nd annual Wine, Music and Art Festival. A dinner in the Danny Lang building and a concert in the amphitheater will follow the dedication. Former UCC President Blaine Nisson, who has overseen the SOWI project from the beginning, said that he will be here for the dedication next September.
The focus of the program is to teach students grape growing and wine making. It also prepares students for entry positions into the industry such as the full time opening listed this month on the Oregon Employment Department job listings site for a $13.75 per hour Barrel Cellar Room Worker.
Not all vineyard openings are for full time workers. A recent report done by Full Glass Research for the Oregon Wine Board estimated that, in 2004, the average Oregon vineyard had 2.7 full-time employees while hiring 9.2 temporary employees. However, the wine industry in Douglas County is growing with over 20 wineries now, up from only eight in 2000.
Oregon’s winemakers supervised the production of nearly 1.75 million cases of wine in 2008. They also provided assistance to other commercial endeavors. In 2007, jobs at Oregon wineries and vineyards supported roughly 1.5 indirect and induced jobs elsewhere in the state economy, according to state reports.
Meanwhile, while the campus is focusing on getting not only the Danny Lang Center built but also four other buildings, state funding for community colleges continues to drop. UCC’s budget for 2010-11 was reduced by $880,579 from the previous school year, and the state funding to community colleges overall has dropped $32 million since 2006. While some think that funding will stabilize without additional cuts, there have been messages from the state that a possible cut of 20 percent for the next biennium might be required.
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