College Partner of Year named

Ben Meyer, president of Shunda Consulting & Construction Management Ltd. and College Housing (Olds) Co. (CHOC) is the 2016 Olds College Partner of the Year.

He will be honoured in that capacity during the college's 14th annual Growing the Legacy Gala which takes place April 7 at the Ralph Klein Centre.

The Olds College Partner of the Year is the most prestigious award bestowed by Olds College.

In 2013, Olds College formally established the first private housing model on a college campus in Alberta and solicited bids to create it.

CHOC won that bid competition. Shunda designed and built the facility, formally called the Centennial Village student housing facility. The existing College Courts townhouses were also renovated.

“As Olds College continually looked to transform its campus and improve the student learning experience through improved infrastructure, Meyer's companies presented competitive and creative proposals that supported that vision. Their impact on our campus development is profound,” an Olds College news release says.

“The business relationship between our two organizations has shaped the infrastructure growth of the college, allowing our students to live, learn and grow in state-of-the-art facilities that help them unlock their potential and succeed beyond the doors of this institution,” Olds College president Tom Thompson says.

“Olds College is exciting to work with because they operate within a spirit of entrepreneurship,” Meyer says.

“There is a feeling of partnership, collaboration and mutual respect, and it is easy to see the positive impact that Olds College has on its students. We appreciate that Olds College prioritizes the investment of its resources into its students.”

As reported earlier by the Albertan, well-known CBC Dragons' Den member and entrepreneur Arlene Dickinson is the keynote speaker for the event.

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