Kelowna Kia Donates to Okanagan College Trades Complex

Kelowna Kia is the latest local business to step up and provide funding for the new Okanagan College Trades Training Complex at the Kelowna campus.

The company has pledged $50,000 to the Bright Horizons Building for Skills campaign in support of the renovation and expansion at the trades facility.

“Having been in the Okanagan for 43 years, I wanted to give something back into the community and the industry that has been very good to me,” said Winfried Gradnitzer, Dealer Principal of Kelowna Kia. “I support the College’s vision for this wonderful new facility because I feel it is very important that we continue to develop tradespeople in the Okanagan.”

The donation will help build a new classroom space in the three-storey tower along KLO Road, part of the 10,000 square-metre renovation and expansion project.

Winfried Gradnitzer, Dealer Principal of Kelowna Kia (Photo Credit: Contributed/Okanagan College)

“We know that a significant percentage of the projected job openings in our province over the next decade will require trades and technical training,” said Okanagan College President Jim Hamilton. “This new facility, which will accommodate more than 2,600 students per year, will allow us to be proactive in training the skilled workers needed in our region, across the province, and throughout Western Canada.”

Launched in October of last year, the Bright Horizons Building for Skills Campaign aims to raise $7 million—$5 million for capital construction and $2 million for student and program support—to complement the provincial government’s $28-million investment.

Auto dealers throughout the Okanagan have shown strong support for the project, on both the capital and student support side. A donation of $10,000 from the Kelowna Auto Dealers Association was one of the first donations which helped the campaign kick off last fall; dealerships throughout the valley have collectively provided more than $600,000 to date.