The Union today covered the efforts I've been making, with the help and support of Trustee Nancy Palmer, to ensure that much of our Nevada County Campus expansion funds stay in our local Nevada County economy.

The challenge is that we still need to deliver an on-time, on-budget project for the taxpayers, but I don't think these two goals are exclusive of each other.

“I am pretty confident we will have a fairly large percentage of contractors’ money stay here at home in Nevada County. The challenge, of course, is contractors in Nevada County are smaller scale than have worked on public education (projects) in the past,” said Sierra College Trustee Aaron Klein.

For the past year, Klein has worked closely with the Nevada County Contractors Association in an attempt to ensure the highest number of local contractors get the work.

A 10,000-square-foot gymnasium, 6,000 square-foot multi-purpose performance facility, and a 3,000-square-foot wellness center for physical education classes are part of the $10 million second phase of the expansion project. Construction could begin as soon as this summer, Klein said.

» Read the Complete Article