NGCSU receives $10 million donation from local business leader

DAHLONEGA - A $10 million gift, the largest donation to North Georgia College & State University in the institution's 134-year history, is being contributed by Dahlonega resident Mike Cottrell to benefit the School of Business & Government.

The school will be renamed the Mike Cottrell School of Business.

Cottrell, 54, the owner of Gainesville-based Cottrell Inc., the world leader in automobile transport-equipment manufacturing, made an initial $4 million contribution in December through the NGCSU Foundation.

"We are extremely grateful to Mike and his family for this remarkable gift," North Georgia President David Potter said. "Their exceptional generosity has touched many lives in our community already, and we are honored to be a recipient of their dedication to the lives of others."

Last year, Cottrell Inc. manufactured almost 1,800 car haulers, more than all the other major international manufacturers combined. The corporation now controls a majority of the U.S. market in over-the-road automobile-transport equipment manufacturing.

In 2003, Cottrell and his wife Lynn established the Cottrell Circle C Ranch LLC, a registered Black Angus cattle-breeding business in Dahlonega. Their home is located on the ranch, which spans 846 acres with an uninterrupted view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Cottrell designed the house and layout of the property, placing the home where it would capture the majestic view and overlook the sprawling ranch. His son Michael Cottrell, a 2005 business marketing graduate of NGCSU, manages the cattle-breeding business.

Part of Cottrell's gift to the university will be used to establish the business school's Center for the Future of North Georgia. The new center will be an applied research resource for the region's cities, counties, chambers of commerce, economic development authorities and other public and private entities.

"The Center for the Future of North Georgia will, at its heart, be a regional economic development and entrepreneurial center," said Cottrell, who is a third-term chairman of the Lumpkin County Development Authority. "It will be a place that can help facilitate the future growth of the community and the region."

The center, Cottrell said, will provide a forum for the discussion of critical issues surrounding the future development of the north Georgia area.

"Mike's vision and gift will be truly transformational for our School of Business by creating a perpetual endowment to support the faculty, students and programs," President Potter said. "The gift will allow North Georgia to advance in ever greater service to the state."

"We have the opportunity to make the North Georgia business school one of the best schools of its kind and size in the country," said Cottrell, who is also the vice chair for the Business Advisory Council at North Georgia and a trustee of the NGCSU Foundation. "That's the goal and I think it's one we can achieve."

Cottrell believes North Georgia can be an economic driver for the region, and that's why he was attracted to the opportunity to expand the university's resources.

To demonstrate that "driving power," one research project of the business school's Center for the Future of North Georgia will focus on the issue of workforce development.

"When companies move into an area, one of the things they look at is the available workforce," said Cottrell, whose company employs about 700 workers. "Seeing what type of workforce you have and exploiting that is a study that needs to be done as a starting point for economic development."

"I have been fortunate in my life, worked hard and achieved a measure of success," he said. "I am able to give back to the community, and I want to make a difference."

A ceremony to officially name the Mike Cottrell School of Business will take place later this year.