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WIU President Jack Thomas, MTC Communications President Bill Buchanan and School of Agriculture Director Bill Bailey
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MTC Communication: School of Agriculture Gift

February 7, 2013

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MACOMB, IL -- Bill Buchanan, president of MTC Communications, presented a gift of $25,000 to Western Illinois University President Jack Thomas Wednesday, Feb. 6. MTC Communications, a subsidiary of McDonough Telephone Cooperative located in Colchester (IL), recently sought proposals for its Broadband Innovation Fund. The MTC Communications gift will support a broadband technology event in March at the WIU School of Agriculture's Field Laboratory.

"With the exodus of people in rural areas of our region, we support the WIU School of Agriculture and their efforts to educate and train their students in the area of agriculture and the important part it plays, not only globally, but more specifically to our region," said Buchanan. "We are dedicated to partnering with the WIU School of Agriculture to educate students in our region about the opportunities and benefits of living and working right here in western Illinois."

MTC Communications' gift will allow the School of Agriculture to live stream, over the Internet, the WIU Bull Sale March 15 at the WIU Livestock Center.

"We thank MTC Communications for their generosity," Thomas said. "Our partnership will allow the Bull Sale to be seen by the general public, area residents and potential students. The Broadband Technology Event is a great example of a local business partnering with WIU for the betterment of our region."

The Bull Sale is held each year, and has grown over the past several years in the number of bulls auctioned and the numbers of bidders participating.

"The live stream project will have two components," explained School of Agriculture Director William Bailey. "The bull sale itself will be streamed live, and a video will be produced explaining the auction process, the handling and evaluation of bulls during the test and what bidders look for in a quality bull. Together, these will make the sale available to a much larger audience, and will put the Bull Sale into perspective, as well as educate viewers."

Buchanan said that sustaining rural populations serves to further sustain businesses, schools and the quality of life in this region.

"The first step to moving information out to the agricultural communities in our region is to broadcast the upcoming WIU Bull Sale on University Television (Channel 9 on MTC-TV's local channel) and the Internet. We look forward to this event and encourage our customers to participate by tuning in," he added


Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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