Donation spreads new opportunities for Wright School of Business students (with VIDEO)

Published 7:16 pm Thursday, November 16, 2017

Nearly 50 years ago, Lamar Wright left then Dalton State Junior College with an associate’s degree with what he said was nothing but opportunity ahead of him. Through the years, he and his wife Ann became successful business people in poultry, textiles, banking and real estate.

Thursday, Dalton State College officials and members of the Wright family broke ground on what Wright’s son said was a new opportunity for future graduates of the now four-year college. The opportunity will come in a $10 million project to expand and renovate the college’s Gignilliat Memorial Hall.

“The word we are using today is opportunity,” Kevin Wright said. “My dad and mom worked hard and they had God’s amazing grace that brought them to this place. Which brings you to why we got here. We got here because of the opportunity. They got here because of the opportunity this institution provided them, and it is that opportunity they have decided they want to share with the rest of this community. It is an opportunity for this community to have a great business school as part of a great college here at Dalton State. It is an opportunity for the students to get a great education and will afford them the opportunity my parents had and maybe they will have the opportunity to give back to their communities wherever they may be.”

The nearly 20,000-square-foot addition is funded by a $5 million gift from the Wright family and matching state funds secured in the budget by members of the state legislative contingent. The new building will have classrooms, a finance laboratory and additional gathering spaces for public events. The existing building will be renovated with upgraded classrooms and technology and will be the new home to the existing Wright School of Business.

Construction is expected to begin in January. The new facility is expected to be opened in January of 2019.

“Dalton State started business degrees in 1999, so in 2019, we will have 20 years of momentum,” said Marilyn Helms, dean of the school of business. “This building is sort of puts a cherry on top of the ice cream sundae. We are making fast progress, but we need the space. We need the modern infrastructure. Business is taught differently than it was in the past. It is not face-forward classrooms. This gives us the infrastructure we need to even improve our curriculum even more. We just ran out of space in the old building.”

Lamar Wright said for the last five decades, Dalton State has had a huge impact on his life. Giving back, he said, was just a natural path to him.

“I was in the first graduating class here and it offered me an opportunity and certainly changed my life,” Lamar Wright said. “We are hoping this will be an opportunity to grow the students and change their lives and compound and change lives beyond them. But it is a wonderful school and a wonderful opportunity and we are just proud to be part of it.

“We have been very blessed and it is time for us to help other people and that is what we are all about,” he said. “God has blessed us and we are fortunate to be part of such a good community and fortunate to be part of Dalton State College.”