FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BRANDON, Man. (November 15, 2021)—The Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA) has committed $100,000 to the Collaboration Zone within Assiniboine Community College’s Prairie Innovation Centre for Sustainable Agriculture. The Collaboration Zone is an integral piece of the Centre, where education and industry connection will meet.

MCA is an important organization in Manitoba’s agricultural landscape, representing five key commodities in the province: spring and winter wheat, sunflowers, corn, barley and flax.

“The birth of MCA unified multiple organizations—a great example of evolving with industry needs, much like the college is looking to do with the Prairie Innovation Centre,” said Tim Hore, Dean, School of Agriculture and Environment. “The Prairie Innovation Centre is an important piece of tomorrow’s ag landscape and we are grateful for support from partners like MCA, who are crucial to the success of the Centre.”

Assiniboine has a long and successful history of delivering agricultural programming that is responsive to the need for highly trained workers across the province. The Prairie Innovation Centre is the college’s next step as a national leader in agricultural training, and will aim to meet the growing labour demands in this important sector.

“Students are the future of agriculture,” says Fred Greig, Chair of MCA. “MCA is proud to support the Prairie Innovation Centre Collaboration Zone at Assiniboine Community College as it will enable students to form strong connections within the agriculture industry. The new facility will greatly expand the College’s programming capabilities to educate more students, and will provide new opportunities to learn, connect and collaborate with each other and with industry professionals.”

The Centre will combine indoor and outdoor learning spaces for seamless hands-on learning experiences. It will be a hub for agricultural innovation and collaboration, and stand as the academic heart of agricultural and environmental education in Manitoba.

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About the Manitoba Crop Alliance

Manitoba Crop Alliance is a non-profit organization established August 1, 2020 representing over 9,000 farmer-members. Manitoba Crop Alliance puts their farmer-members first and strives to continuously improve the competitiveness and profitability of all crops represented by the organization by focusing on four main areas: research, agronomy, market access and development, and communications. It is through investment in these key areas that Manitoba Crop Alliance can ensure wheat, barley, corn, sunflower and flax are sustainable production choices for Manitoba farmers. For more information, visit mbcropalliance.ca.

About Assiniboine Community College
Assiniboine Community College has been providing exceptional learning experiences for more than 55 years and offers certificate, diploma and post-graduate programs across a variety of disciplines including culinary arts and hospitality, business, agriculture and environment, health and human services, and trades and technology. The college also delivers apprenticeship programming in a range of skilled trades disciplines.

With more than 3,600 students, and campuses in Brandon, Dauphin and Winnipeg, Assiniboine provides comprehensive educational opportunities throughout Manitoba. The college also partners with many communities and organizations across the province to deliver customized education and training. Assiniboine’s annual provincial economic impact is $612 million.

Assiniboine Community College campuses are located on the traditional territories of Treaty No. 1 and Treaty No. 2, the shared traditional lands of Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, Dene and Anishinabek/Ojibwe peoples, and the homeland of the Métis Nation. We acknowledge their welcome to the students who seek knowledge here.

For more information, please contact:

Anya McNabb

Communications Specialist

Assiniboine Community College

204.868.5453

mcnabba@assiniboine.net