HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Sen. Mitch McConnell placed $2.4 million in the Senate’s version of the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Bill today for Northern Kentucky University’s informatics center. The earmark will potentially be the second federal investment Sen. McConnell has secured for the facility. Earlier this year, he secured $1.9 million in the Financial Services Appropriations Bill.
The bill has several steps to go through before final approval, including full Senate action, and President Barack Obama’s signature.
If the earmark stays in the bill, NKU will be about $4 million short of the $17.3 million dollar fundraising goal to complete the center with the best technology available.
“Senator McConnell’s effort to secure this earmark will put us much closer to our fundraising goal to complete this state-of-the-art center in a manner that will help drive our regional economy,” NKU President James C. Votruba said. “We are grateful that he shares our vision of creating opportunities in our region that will help make Kentucky competitive post-recession.”
The university set out to raise the additional funds after realizing that the original $35.5 million state funding would not build a facility to meet the needs of fast-growing industries demanding informatics talent. The university has secured a $6 million lead donation from the Griffin family, more than $3 million from other donors in the region, a Congressman Geoff Davis earmark and state matching funds. The Griffin gift includes naming the new center Griffin Hall.
Scheduled to open in 2011, Griffin Hall will house some of the most advanced technology in the Midwest. The building will feature a Computer Assisted Virtual Environment (CAVE) that will assist with product development, as well as a Digitorium that will be capable of running complex simulations in homeland security, computer security and financial security. In addition to providing students with advanced educational opportunities, the Digitorium can double as a Network Operations Center that will allow broad use by a variety of private and government sectors.
