{"id":30691,"date":"2013-10-03T19:49:55","date_gmt":"2013-10-03T23:49:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2013\/10\/03\/local-legislators-meet-at-necc\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T17:12:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:12:42","slug":"local-legislators-meet-at-necc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2013\/10\/03\/local-legislators-meet-at-necc\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Legislators Meet at NECC"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lindsey<\/a>

NECC alumna Lindsey Curole, Rep. Barry Finegold, NECC President Lane Glenn, and NECC student trustee and engineering science major Emily Ramirez<\/p><\/div>\n

Local legislators gathered at Northern Essex Community College\u2019s Haverhill Campus for the college\u2019s Annual Legislators\u2019 Breakfast on Friday, Sept. 27.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Those attending heard an economic forecast from Representative Brian S. Dempsey, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee; learned how Northern Essex is preparing local residents for high demand STEM careers; and received a financial update from Northern Essex President Lane Glenn.<\/p>\n

Chairman Dempsey reported that the state is \u201coff to a good start\u201d this fiscal year with revenues that are $139 million above benchmark, increased cash reserves, and a recently upgraded bond rating\u2014double A plus– which is the highest in the history of the Commonwealth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are well positioned, but we need to take a practical approach and invest in things like education that are important,\u201d said Dempsey.<\/p>\n

In recent years, the state\u2019s investment in K-12 has grown significantly from $1.3 billion in 1993 to $4.3 billion today, but the higher education budget has not grown at the same rate, according to Dempsey.<\/p>\n

\"Rep.<\/a>

Chair of the House Ways and Means Committe Rep. Brian Dempsey, NECC student trustee Emily Ramirez, NECC President Lane Glenn, Rep. Linda Dean Campbell, and NECC alumna Lindsey Curole.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t done enough for higher education. We know the good work that happens here and I think we will see an ongoing effort to keep your budgets up in the years ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Northern Essex President Lane Glenn shared a presentation titled \u201cNECC Prepares Local Residents for High Demand STEM Careers\u201d with legislators.<\/p>\n

According to Glenn, over half of NECC\u2019s 7,000 plus students are enrolled in STEM programs such as health, science, computer technology, and engineering. Some of the fastest growing programs are engineering transfer; allied health, such as radiologic technology and respiratory therapy; and computer certificate programs such as computer forensics and computer security.<\/p>\n

In the past three years, Northern Essex has added three new STEM programs that were created in collaboration with local employers, including associate degrees in laboratory science with a focus on biotechnology, environmental science, or chemical analysis, and the medical laboratory technician, and an ophthalmic assistant certificate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re partnering with local employers to give our students the skills that will lead to careers when they graduate,\u201d said Glenn.<\/p>\n

Northern Essex students Emily Ramirez, an engineering science major from Lawrence, and Lindsey Curole of Merrimac, a recent graduate of the Lab Science Program shared their stories with legislators. A 2010 graduate of Lawrence High School, Ramirez is balancing her studies with working 30-hours a week for the Microsoft store in Salem, NH. Curole is studying full time at UMass Lowell while working part time as a quality control technician for Charm Sciences, a position she received after completing her internship.<\/p>\n

On the financial front, President Glenn started with the good news, pointing out that Northern Essex currently has the third lowest cost of the Commonwealth\u2019s 15 community colleges with annual tuition and fees for a full-time student totaling $4710.<\/p>\n

\"NECC

NECC student trustee Emily Ramirez, NECC President Lane Glenn, Rep. Diana DiZoglio, NECC alumna Lindsey Curole, and William Moynihan, Chairman of the NECC Board of Trustees.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re one of the lowest cost colleges in the state, and we\u2019re proud of this but it\u2019s coming at a tremendous price,\u201d said Glenn.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When you look at the college\u2019s net asset value, which measures the condition of a campus, the college is last in the state, falling in the \u201ccatch-up\u201d stage which indicates that buildings need significant repairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a $90 million deferred maintenance back log. It\u2019s not that we don\u2019t work at it, we do, but we need to have a more aggressive strategy as far as cost so we can address this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Legislators attending the breakfast included Chairman Dempsey, Senator Barry Finegold, Representative Linda Dean Campbell, and Representative Diana DiZoglio. Dennis Marcelo represented Senator Kathleen O\u2019Connor Ives and Jeff Stinson represented Representative Leonard Mirra. Also attending the event were members of the college\u2019s board of trustees and faculty and staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are fortunate to have a talented group of legislators representing us in the Merrimack Valley,\u201d said Glenn. \u201cYour leadership brings home results for Northern Essex and our region.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Local legislators gathered at Northern Essex Community College\u2019s Haverhill Campus for the college\u2019s Annual Legislators\u2019 Breakfast on Friday, Sept. 27.   Those attending heard an economic forecast from Representative Brian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":30693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLocal Legislators Meet at NECC - NECC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2013\/10\/03\/local-legislators-meet-at-necc\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Local Legislators Meet at NECC - 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