TORRINGTON – One of the best and most challenging things any business entity can go through, is certainly change. 

Eastern Wyoming College (EWC) has undoubtedly seen its fair share of change in recent years. But change nevertheless truly is the only way to move forward into an uncertain future.

One of these changes, along with an almost certain bright forthcoming filled with fresh ideas lies with EWC Interim Executive Director of the Foundation (IEDF) Lisa Johnson.

One of the most important if not the most important goal with EWC, is to always be recruiting more students and to provide as much opportunity as possible for them moving forward.

With that of course comes the obvious questions. We always want more students enrolled at EWC, but how do we make that a reality? We want to provide more opportunity, but how do we make it so? We want to award more scholarships, but how to we appropriately raise the necessary funds?

Since starting her position as the college IEDF at the beginning of this last term, Johnson has brought an overwhelming array of idealistic possibilities for both the staff and student body of EWC.

With an extensive background in numerous fields including journalism, ranching and economic development; Johnson has the perfect vision of how to go about bringing educational affluence to EWC, as well as Goshen County.

“I’ve been on a ranch at LaGrange for the past twenty years,” Johnson began. “As a kid I grew up on ranches in southeast Wyoming and northern Colorado. I went to college in New Mexico and that’s how I got into the economic development field. When I moved to Wyoming I did some business consulting for a little while and then I worked as the Executive Director of Goshen County Economic Development. From there on I worked for the Wyoming Business Council and then started another consulting business called Orbis Advantage Inc.”

After years of successful ventures in business, consultation and development for several Goshen entities, when a certain position became available Johnson knew she had something immensely sincere and influential to offer EWC.

“The Foundation position was opened, and so I decided it was time for something new,” Johnson continued. “I like the start-up mode, and I’m very entrepreneurial minded. Some of the projects I’ve done was the Cold Springs Business Park, the Goshen Enterprise Center and 21st & Main as the downtown destination hub. So those were some of the fun projects. I absolutely love projects and love doing them.”

With EWC administration having an ambitious mindset for continued growth headed into 2024, Johnson noted numerous ideas for the future on how to continue that growth. Not only this, but also providing essential opportunity for prospective students nationwide.

“I’m so excited to be working for the college foundation,” Johnson said. “Here we are in the A-Tech building and I want to see it’s continued enhancement. As a college our goals are to always increase enrollment, and increase graduation. This facility does that, but the real way we use this facility is by getting more students on campus.”

As to be expected and by answering the big question, Johnson has plans and ideas to do precisely just that. With a planning process that has already begun and with valuable time available to get the word out, Johnson has one opening event to get the ball rolling at the end of January.

The event has been dubbed with the ear-catching title of Sagebrush and Roses. The event is scheduled to be held on January 27 at both the EWC A-Tech Building and the Goshen County Rendezvous Center.

“It’s going very well and we are seeking sponsors,” Johnson continued. “There are six [sponsorship] levels ranging from $300 up to $5,000. It’s also great because we have such support throughout the campus. We have a lot of staff and faculty that are involved, as well as community volunteers that are on our planning committee. They have it down pat. Everyone knows their job and works out the details to really elaborate amazing beautiful decorations. There will be a plated dinner served by our ag students, so the community members that come have that opportunity to come interact with the students. That’s the other really fun part of the community. We have a lot of generous donors that help us not only with sponsorship, but we have a really fun silent auction with really nice prizes that you can win.

“The funds raised by this helps us raise more scholarships. The Foundation has helped us be immensely more aggressive in offering scholarships specifically for livestock judging, show teams, and other ag programs. It’s to raise money for all of our ag programs, and that involves money used for scholarships. It’s also used for elements of this center such as equipment, programs and other facility needs.”

According to Johnson however, holding a fundraiser is but a small tip of a very large iceberg that realistically goes into a cause so much bigger. When it comes to the overall picture of community business growth, engagement and interactive relationships are key.

“What’s exciting is really digging in deeper, learning about all of the donators, all of the scholarships that we do have and just helping growth,” Johnson continued. “I’m very growth minded. I like to see things flourish, and we are very community minded. It’s being a part of the college, how we extend our impact into the community and throughout the whole region. I love that and that is extremely exciting to me; being a part of the college community, being on campus and making those connections. It’s very fitting with something that the community has been so proud of. The community made this facility possible, and the community is helping us grow our agriculture programs here at EWC. Interacting with colleagues and especially students is so energizing. I love being on campus.”

Of course raising funds for scholarships and grants among other things can certainly be a challenge for even the most experienced in economic development. That being said, Johnson is ready to embrace and overcome any obstacle that ultimately decides to present itself.

“It’s just a learning curve, and there is so much history,” Johnson said with a confident optimism. “The Foundation will be celebrating 60 years, while the college is celebrating over 75 years. In learning that rich history, I want to know the donors and know their stories. My degree is in journalism, so I’m this investigative researcher of stories that we can uncover. The challenge is just having time to fit it all in, and I would say there is a lot of change happening on campus. Whenever you are going through change, you just see so much opportunity that can be pulled in a lot of directions. So with the Foundation we need to really focus our efforts. We have just two staff members and we have an amazing board. But it’s just having the time to really make sure we take good care of, and follow the donor’s intent with an understanding that we are delivering on what we would. I love a challenge, and that’s the fun part.”

For any questions or information regarding the EWC Foundation, feel free to call 307-534-2417.