The Northwest Missouri State University Board of Regents met Thursday and approved leases with Carbolytic Materials Company (CMC) and Northwest Energy Center, LLC and approved other agenda items, including special recognition of Ray Courter, vice president for Finance and Support Services.
• The board has been negotiating and going over terms of a proposed release with Northwest Energy Center, LLC since September 2008, and after many changes in the last several weeks, have come to an agreement with the company — to construct wind turbines on land owned by Northwest.
• CMC, a company that will convert tires into a carbon black alternative, will be leasing a space at the Northwest Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to be used as a space for research and development of their new process.
• Details on the leases have not been made known to the public, however, further details should be released next week, after signatures and a review by legal counsel have been finished.
• Courter, who is retiring in July after 37 years at Northwest, was honored by the Board of Regents when they approved a motion to rename the college's pavilion in his name. The Ray Courter Pavilion is located near College Park on the southwest corner of the campus.
"I'm not speechless, but close to it," Courter said. "I'm deeply touched."
Courter will work on a part-time basis helping Dan Edmonds adjust to his new position as interim of vice president of finance and operations.
• After the resignation of Don Schneider from the board last month, the board approved Regent Lydia Hurst as the new vice president.
• Regents and Courter also discussed submitting several top-priority projects to the state to try and receive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. Their top project of interest was expansion of the university's alternative fuels program.
• The board also appointed Bursar Terri Christensen as the university treasurer, responsible for the signing of all university checks. She will replace Courter.
