For the better part of a decade, Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) has been trying to secure state funding to convert its Mark & Helen Osterlin Building into a one-stop shop for student services like admissions, financial aid, advising, and tutoring. Those asks have repeatedly proved unsuccessful, even as NMC has garnered state dollars to fund other major capital projects. Rather than give up, though, the college is now doubling down on its commitment to the Osterlin project, hiring a Lansing-based legislative advocacy firm to put some extra “horsepower” behind the request.

NMC trustees voted on Monday to enter into a retainer agreement with Kelley Cawthorne, LLC “to enhance the College’s pursuit of State funding for our desired Student Services Hub project.” Upon unanimous approval from the board, the contract officially commenced Tuesday (March 18) and will last one year, costing NMC $5,500 per month, or $66,000 for the full 12-month period. The college is paying for the contract out of its general fund.

According to NMC Communications Director Cari Noga, the Kelley Cawthorne contract “does signify an increased effort on NMC’s part to receive capital outlay dollars” for the Osterlin project. In Michigan, public universities and community colleges must go through the capital outlay process to request financial support from the state for building projects. Schools submit new capital outlay plans to the state every five years, inventorying their facilities and prioritizing “major capital projects” for potential state funding. NMC’s most recent capital outlay plan, approved last fall, identifies the renovation of the Osterlin Building as the college’s top priority, as did the previous capital outlay plan adopted in 2020.

Osterlin has been part of NMC’s capital outlay asks since 2017. The Ticker detailed NMC’s plans to renovate that facility into an “integrated student services hub” in summer 2021, and the overall concept hasn’t changed much since. The goal is to consolidate a range of student services – including admissions, financial aid, advising, tutoring, counseling, international outreach, health, veteran services, and student life – under one roof. The project carries an estimated budget of $6 million.

“[The Osterlin project] is about logic and efficiency,” Troy Kierczynski, NMC’s vice president of finance and administration, told The Ticker in 2021. “I’d say efficiency is really what we're trying to bring to our students. And in turn, we hope it's a better experience for them. And then because of that better experience, we hope that it might help more students stay on campus, or stay in class, and complete through the end [of their degree programs].”

Capital outlay dollars have come to NMC on numerous occasions in recent years. Of the $14.4 million price tag of the Timothy J. Nelson Innovation Center, a project completed in 2020, more than half – $7.4 million – was paid for through state capital outlay funds. And last year, NMC secured $3.75 million in state funding for a currently-in-progress expansion of its aviation facilities. Despite those successes, Osterlin has repeatedly been passed over for state funding.

One thing the West Hall aviation projects had in common? In both cases, Kelley Cawthorne helped NMC lobby the state for capital outlay dollars. At Monday’s meeting, trustee Kennard Weaver used those successes to imply the potential return-on-investment another team-up with Kelley Cawthorne could bring.

“We paid them $25,000 in fees to get us $7.5 million for the building we’re in right now,” Weaver said, referring to West Hall.

Trustee Chris Bott also praised the idea of bringing in Kelly Cawthorne, describing it as a way “to get a little more horsepower behind our efforts, in terms of capital outlay.”

Given Kelley Cawthorne’s history of success for the college, trustee Pamela Horne asked whether it might even make sense for NMC to keep the firm on retainer permanently, noting that “having the presence of a really good firm in Lansing to address whatever issues might come up” could be beneficial.

“My thought would be: this is such a critical project for us that we want their full attention on this,” Kierczynski responded. “But could we leverage them for other things as they come up? Absolutely.”

Also in response to Horne’s idea, Board Chair Laura Oblinger noted that NMC already has an ongoing arrangement with local government affairs expert Gabe Schneider and his company Northern Strategies 360, for legislative updates and advocacy. Kelley Cawthorne, she said, “is someone that we would bring in on these specific initiatives for additional help.”

Even beyond the new retainer contract, legislative advocacy was a major topic of conversation at NMC’s Monday meeting. In his update to the board, President Nick Nissley noted that Jason Slade, the college’s VP for strategic initiatives, had recently worked with the office of Senator Gary Peters on drafting a $3 million congressional appropriations request “to help close that $6 million [funding] gap on the Freshwater Research and Innovation Center.”

In addition, Nissley told board members that Schneider and Ed Bailey, NMC’s director of program and portfolio development, had recently traveled to Washington, D.C. for Great Lakes Days 2025. That advocacy event gave NMC’s representatives opportunities to put projects like the Freshwater Research and Innovation Center in front of federal legislators, and to voice their support for the Great Lakes Mapping Act, a pending piece of legislation Nissley said “could have positive import” for NMC and its programs.

Finally, Nissley shared that Great Lakes Maritime Academy (GLMA) Superintendent Jerry Achenbach “continues to work very specifically with Representative [Jack] Bergman on our MARAD appropriation.” Part of the United States Department of Transportation, the Maritime Administration (MARAD) provides direct financial assistance to the six State Maritime Academies (SMAs) each fiscal year, including GLMA. Nissley said all six maritime academies have made it a “legislative priority” this year to try to double that annual appropriation from $1 million to $2 million. “Obviously, that would have a tremendous impact on GLMA,” Nissley said.

“So, a whole lot of legislative advocacy going on,” Nissley concluded. “It doesn’t just happen with me. It happens with Troy, it happens with Jason, it happens with Jerry…many people in the college are involved in that legislative advocacy work.”