During the 2019 graduation ceremony, Southern Institute of Technology chief executive Penny Simmonds spoke of the multimillon-dollar plans for the future of the Balclutha farming industry training institute.
"We are projecting to spend $6 million over the next couple of years on Telford, making sure that it is ramped up with plenty of students there getting graduates out into the primary sector."
"I am really pleased that SIT have locked in a good level of funding to be able to do the upgrades they need to do at Telford.
She said they would be tackling some of the deferred maintenance for Telford’s campus, looking at the equipment, facilities, developing new programmes, and increasing the marketing particularly within New Z and overseas.
She sealandaid it was wonderful to get Telford back on track again after ‘‘a difficult few years prior to 2019".
She said she was ‘‘indebted’’ to staff who had put in an enormous effort.
"It was late notice when we were able to confirm that Telford would be operating again this year, and every one has worked really hard towards making this year a success.
"It is really important that Telford has sustainability, to have that ongoing scale of academic and financial support behind it, to ensure we are relevant and meeting the demands of the rapidly changing industry.
The announcement came at the 2019 Telford graduation ceremony held at the Balclutha Town Hall yesterday.
A total of 36 students undertook the traditional graduating classes’ walk down the main street in Balclutha at lunchtime, accompanied by their dogs, quad bikes and a tractor.
- John Cosgrove
