Two of the most ardent supporters of everything about Lake Michigan College are being honored and memorialized well into the future by having their name placed on the institution’s new wine and viticulture building currently being erected on the Napier Avenue Campus and the tribute could not be more fitting.
LMC has revealed that the name of the new teaching winery currently under construction, and due to open next year in 2019 will be the Welch Center, named after longtime supporters of the college, Mike and Lisa Welch.
The actual announcement was made back on September 25th during a private event at The Mendel Center.
The honor was bestowed on the couple not only for their financial generosity toward the construction of the wine center, but for their years of service to the college.
LMC President, Dr. Trevor Kubatzke says, “The legacy of leadership and generosity shown to this college by Mike and Lisa Welch over the years has been nothing short of transformative. Their impact will be felt for generations to come.”
For more than 16 years, the Stevensville couple has volunteered on numerous LMC boards and committees, including the Winner’s Circle Scholarship Benefit Auction as event chairs in 2010, and Lisa continues to serve on the auction’s executive committee. She also serves on the board of Lake Michigan Vintners teaching winery and tasting room.
Mike has served on the LMC Foundation board since 2002, and was board president from July 2012 to June 2014. During the Foundation’s Campaign for Tomorrow, Mike provided leadership as a cabinet member helping to raise $8 million for the wine center and the Hanson Technology Center.
In 2011, they established the Mike & Lisa Welch Family Endowed Scholarship, and in 2018 were awarded with LMC’s Bernard Radde award.
Mike is a Lake Michigan College alum and graduated from Western Michigan University. He is the president of Magnate Worldwide and founded the freight expedition company Express-1. Lisa is a graduate of Edwardsburg High School and Michigan State University.
The new $7 million Welch Center will replace the temporary two-room laboratory set up in The Mendel Center when the program launched in 2015 to support the region’s rapidly growing wine industry.
Students in the program study enology (winemaking), viticulture (grape-growing), and business. Graduates earn associate degrees in applied science in wine and viticulture technology.
The 14,000 square foot building will be located on LMC’s Benton Harbor Campus, north of The Mendel Center, and will include a large tank room, bottling room, barrel room, dry storage area and a laboratory.
There will be classrooms, offices and an open commons area to encourage student collaboration, special events, and tastings.
More information about the program can be found by clicking the link below:
http://www.lakemichigancollege.edu/wine
In the photo accompanying this story on Moody on the Market from the groundbreaking for the Welch Center, Mike and Lisa are shown fourth and fifth from the left.
