Four candidates are vying for three open seats on the Allen Community College Board of Trustees. Spencer Ambler and Ken McGuffin are not seeking re-election.
Incumbent Mary Kay Heard is running for a second four-year term. Also on the ballot are Gena Clounch, Vicki Curry and Lonnie Larson.
Lonnie Larson has always had close ties with Allen Community College. After entering retirement after last month, he has the time to invest in the college if elected to the Board of Trustees.
Larson and his wife and children also attended ACC.
If I get the opportunity to serve on the board, I feel it would be a privilege. I was a non-traditional student. I took evening courses for several years while I was working, he said. I was fortunate enough that the college partnered with Friends University and offered an accelerated bachelors program in human resources. ACC is a real asset to this area, and without that opportunity, I dont believe I would have ever had the chance to get my bachelors degree.
Larson has a business background, having worked at Gates, Russell Stover and Sonic Equipment Company. He feels his ability to work in diverse fields will make him an asset to the college.
He served on the board for Iola Industries and was chairman when the Eastgate Loft Apartments were built. He also serves on the board for SEK, Inc., which serves the 12 counties in the southeast corner of the state.
I am just as excited about that as anything I have done. We work with the workforce and we work with the colleges and the tech center. The tech center is so important because it provides an avenue for individuals to be successful. These are jobs that we need. We need electricians, we need plumbers, we need to keep jobs here and make our county better, Larson said.
He is also the president of the Iola Kiwanis Club.
Larson said he supports the new activity center and is excited to see what the future brings.
What they did with the student center is awesome. It is so nice over there. I like everything I have heard and read about the activity center. It sounds like they are doing a lot of work on that now, Larson said. The growth of the college has been tremendous and this is going to set them up well for years to come.
