Heralding the partnership developed between Olds College and the Pomeroy Group, Tom Thompson, president of Olds College, officially cut the ribbon at the grand opening of the Pomeroy Inn and Suites on Sept. 10.
The partnership between the two organizations began about four years ago when Thompson and Ryan Pomeroy began talking about the possibility of putting a hotel on the campus. The 83-room hotel opened in July just prior to the World Plowing Championships held at the college.
The college partnered with the hotel chain to build the hotel and is a 40 per cent owner of the facility. Students with the school's rural hospitality program will also have the opportunity to receive hands-on education at the facility.
“There is one value that was predominant in the building of the relationship with these fine people from the north country. And that was entrepreneurship. Olds College has 100 years of history in entrepreneurship. The people that we chose to partner with have countless decades of entrepreneurship background,” Thompson said.
He added people from around Alberta, Canada and the world regularly visit Olds College to see and talk about partnerships the college has made with organizations.
“And they want to know, how is all that possible at a higher education institution and the answer is unbelievably simple. And that is that what we're looking for is a win-win situation,” he said.
Pomeroy, president of the Pomeroy Group, said he was proud to have Olds College as a partner in the project and looked forward to continuing that partnership.
“It takes a lot of people to make this happen and it takes a lot of creation and innovation to make something like this happen and it's fairly unique. This is really a look into the future for two organizations. I think it's really timely that we open this facility in the centennial anniversary of the college,” he said.
