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NW Energy donates to Northern diesel center

At a press conference yesterday, officials from Montana State University-Northern and NorthWestern Energy gathered at Chancellor Greg Kegel's house to talk about the company's donation to the Automotive/Diesel Technology Center.

NorthWestern awarded the university $125,000 to put toward their new building, the construction of which slated to start in the spring.

Bob Rowe, the CEO of NorthWestern Energy, said Tuesday that the donation was part of their Community Works project, which gives back to the communities the company sells their product to.

Rowe said that normally, the charitable organization does not donate to "brick and mortar" projects, but Northern's building was a special circumstance.

"This is unique," Rowe said. " ... We're excited to be part of the community and part of this institution."

Kegel said he has been busy with acquiring funds for the building and is anticipating the building to be completed shortly.

"This donation tonight is a very significant donation," Kegel said. " ... This is Montana's biggest company and they've just endorsed this program."

The university does not have quite enough funds to complete the project, but both Kegel and Director of University Relations Jim Potter feel confident the funds will come.

"We have a whole bunch of companies who have made commitments," Potter said, adding that people can expect to see events like this often in the coming weeks.

"We're at the finish line," Kegel said.

Kegel said that, to date, he has not had one of the companies he has asked for assistance with the project tell him "no."

Kegel said that the building is not necessarily a complicated structure and thinks that if they start working once the winter weather breaks, they can got the job done fairly quickly.

"There's a possibility that the fall of '16, that we'll be done," Kegel said, adding a disclaimer that it is just a possibility and many things could happen from here on out that would delay the completion. However, he said the project will not go past two years from now.

 

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