The namesake of the University of North Georgia's School of Business made the two largest donations in the University of North Georgia’s 145-year history.
"I am grateful to Mike and Lynn Cottrell for their exceptional generosity," UNG President Bonita Jacobs said. "The Cottrells have made the two largest contributions in UNG’s 145-year history, and, in doing so, they have provided transformational support for our students and graduates to be regionally and globally competitive business leaders."
The second $10 million dollar gift announcement puts the Cottrell family's contributions to UNG at more than $20 million.
It was announced during the quarterly meeting of the UNG Foundation Board of Trustees where Mike Cottrell serves a trustee emeritus of the board.
"Currently, business courses and faculty are spread across multiple buildings, which diminishes the synergy that results from being in a common space," Dr. Mary Gowan, Dean of the Mike Cottrell College of Business said. "This facility will create a technology-rich learning environment to ensure our students are well equipped for modern high-demand workforce opportunities, thus ensuring we are competitive with leading business and technology schools."
The Mike Cottrell School of Business plans to build a new 91,000 square foot facility in 2022 to be named the Cottrell Center for Business, Technology and Innovation with an estimated total cost of $35 million dollars.
In May, the University's Executive Director of Communications, Sylvia Carson, said state lawmakers announced $15.9 million dollars being allocated to the university for capital improvements, including the new building.
She explained, "The first $2.3 million dollars is for design funds and we expect they'll be money in the next two years to be able to support the construction, equipment, and furnishing of that building."
The new structure will be located on the Dahlonega campus and will sit just off Chestatee Street near the main campus entrance.
Groundbreaking is expected to take place in 2020 and construction should take about two years.
