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The college already has three buildings named for governors, Holton said. If the current lawmakers keep up the good work, maybe they'll have buildings on campus in their names some day, he quipped.
Later, Phillips noted that since Holton Hall was built, the rules have changed so that campus buildings cannot bear someone's name until that person has died. "So Terry and I are not too anxious to get that honor," he joked.
Holton said Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan recently called globalization a significant enhancement to the national economy. It's hard to face the loss of a local manufacturing plant, but Greenspan emphasized the need for Americans to gain the greater job skills needed by high-tech industries, he said. That's why higher education has become the greatest contribution to this region's economy, Holton said.
"If you build it, they'll come," he said. "If you create those skills in human resources, the jobs will come."
Phillips said before the rededication ceremony, he had been present when a business prospect toured the technology park near Wise. The prospect asked what the community college can do for them, he said, and he talked about MECC's ability to provide all sorts of training and support.
Phillips said he told the prospect that regional leaders are trying to bring the jobs Holton discussed — long-term careers with starting pay in the $40,000-60,000 range — and that MECC has met the challenge of helping prepare for them.
Robert Sandel, MECC's president from early 1992 to July 2001, recalled a meeting in Richmond at which the funds for Holton renovations were finally secured.
Phillips and Wampler serve on the House and Senate money committees, Sandel noted, and Kilgore was working hard to make sure they both supported the renovation project.
Phillips was solidly committed. But Wampler — one of a handful of conference committee
members who would negotiate the final version of the state budget — faced a giant list of competing funding interests, and state funds were tight.
One day, Kilgore grabbed Sandel and took him to a Senate Finance committee meeting. They got Wampler's attention as he sat at the committee table, hearing testimony. Finally, Kilgore took Wampler aside during a break and kept pushing until Wampler committed on the spot to support the project, Sandel said.
Sandel, now the head of Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke, said MECC and far Southwest Virginia are very special to him. During his term at the college, he said, he was fortunate to see several major building projects completed or started.
“However,” Sandel said, "all a president does is get things going. It takes a great staff, community leaders and legislators to get things done, he said, adding that the college's hard workers have great leadership today in Suarez. "With Terry, you can't go wrong."
“MECC makes a difference every day in the lives of people aged 18 to 80,” Sandel said. “The addition of a true student center will fill a gap in the school's identity,” he said. "This is a first-class, wonderful facility."
After the speeches, college foundation director Donna Stanley presented the Slemp Foundation plaque, and a plaque for the student services section that honors longtime college supporter Helen Sutherland of Pound.
Finally, Suarez unveiled a portrait of Holton, from his days in the governor's office, that will hang in a hallway of the student center.
Copyright 2004 The Post. All rights reserved.
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