Bringing back our best and brightest

Give our kids the best education we can so they can earn a good living -- in the big city. Unfortunately, that's been the reality for the last two or three generations of people on the Golden Plains, the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of pioneers drawn to Southwest Nebraska by the promise of land, are forced to leave to find other opportunities.

But it was a difficult cycle to break. Who doesn't want their children to have the best opportunities we can provide, and who isn't willing to invest all they can in their family's future?

Not by design, of course, and many of our best and brightest prefer the quality of life that small-town living offers.

But the fact is, for most of the last century, our system of education has been a pipeline for sending our best and brightest off to jobs in Lincoln, Omaha, Chicago, Denver or the east or west coasts.

But Wednesday night, a routine board meeting offered a glimpse of an effort to reroute that pipeline right back to its source.

Mid Plains Community College in general, and McCook Community College in particular, are on the cutting edge of proving that top students don't have to assume that their careers will take them thousands of miles from home.

Thanks to the Internet, the generosity of donors and not a little good luck, MCC is in the cutting edge of creating new opportunities right here.

One example offered to the Mid Plains Community College Board of Governors was a video presentation about 21st Century Systems Inc., which is creating vital software systems to allow battlefield commanders to keep track of vital assets and make important decisions in time. In fact, the software company which has an office on the MCC campus, recently created one new system in 60 days which is already proving useful in Iraq. The video, part of an NET Television "Statewide" segment, is available online at http://www.21csi.com/mccook _pbs_11mar05.htm.

The governors were also seated in tangible evidence that the college is committed to supporting career opportunities -- the Hormel Technology Center, created through the generosity of the late Ben Hormel of McCook and his family.

According to MCC CEO Dr. Richard Tubbs, the center is on track to triple the revenues of the previous fiscal year, offering valuable services to local industries. Tubbs said the center provided 4,752 hours of "Human Effectiveness" training to employees of McCook National Bank, Community Hospital and Parker-Hannifin, for example.

Hundreds of employees have received training in computer software and networking, "cultural safety," as well as workplace safety, customized welding, leadership and "Aggression Replacement," among others.

In North Platte, the college provides vital training for the Union Pacific Railroad, which, according to College President Dr. Michael Chips, has put Mid Plains in a position to provide leadership to a consortium of community colleges working to provide such industry training.

Clearly, when future generations of students find they can make decent livings in their chosen fields closer to home, they will be able to thank the leadership of Mid Plains and McCook Community College.