Ozarka College recently received a charitable contribution in the amount of $5,000 from Vic and Pam Setser of Stone County to support Ozarka’s Welding Center expansion in downtown Mountain View. The contribution will fully outfit one of 10 welding booths at the center. Each welding station will be equipped with welders with industry driven add-ons, specifically, a “push-pull gun” application used by local Stone County industries. 

“Education is so important, and I am very thankful to have Ozarka available in Stone County” said Pam Setser, Ozarka College Board Trustee. “I feel it gives so many more students the ability to go to college, an option that was not available to me when I graduated from high school.”

The new Welding Center in Mountain View is an expansion to serve the greater Mountain View area. The Center will house advanced welding education for college students in preparation for today’s workforce, will assist local industries with continuing education needs for their employees, and will enable area high school students an accelerated pathway into high-demand career fields. 

 “We are very grateful for Vic and Pam and their unwavering commitment to the Ozarka mission in Mountain View,” said Dr. Richard Dawe, Ozarka College president. “This gift is yet another testament to the Setsers’ devotion to our students and their future in Stone County.”

The donation from the Setsers comes after Ozarka’s 2019 designation as a regional Secondary Technical Center by the Career Education and Workforce Development Board.  The designation allows the College to offer secondary technical training to area high school students.  Secondary technical centers are designed to provide career and technical education programs too costly for the local high schools to offer. 

The commitment from Vic and Pam Setser is a contribution toward Ozarka College Foundation’s fundraising campaign, an effort to raise capital to advance programs as well as furnish and equip state-of-the-art facilities.  If you are interested in supporting these new technical education opportunities, there are multiple giving opportunities available. For more information, contact Dr. Josh Wilson with the Ozarka College Foundation at [email protected] or 870-368-2060.