ECC President Calls for Leadership Council

East Central College President Dr. Jon Bauer is calling for local government, school and industry leaders to come to the table to carve out a vision of the future of Franklin County and the region.

Specifically, Bauer called for the formation of a Leadership Council in his address to officials of local cities during the Franklin Count Municipal League (FCML) dinner Oct. 19 in Union.

“We have a generational opportunity to shape our future and East Central College is all in with you to ensure that future is the one we want for our stakeholders and our community,” he said.

Bauer noted that the college was formed 50 years ago to meet many community needs. Over the past five decades, ECC has fulfilled its obligation to the community, and much more — and now is the time to look ahead to the next 50 years.

“I believe this is as pivotal and impactful a time, as it was over 50 years ago when we decided as a community that we wanted a college here,” he said. “Decisions that the college and our communities make today will chart the course for the next 50 years — I have no doubt about that. Our actions or inactions will determine our future.”

Bauer explained that many areas in the region can be positively impacted today, and in the future, by the actions community leaders take now.

“We are working every day to identify and demolish barriers to the college dream. These are barriers of cost, food insecurity, childcare, housing,” he said. “In some cases, the solution rests with us at East Central. In some cases, we need public-private partnerships. In still others, we need the collaboration of our schools and public sector partners, including the county and cities.

“Public, private, city, county, school, college,” Bauer continued. “We are one community. We are leaders with a responsibility to serve.”

Bauer’s proposition includes business leaders and the largest employers in the area, like Ameren Missouri and Mercy.

“We have industries crying out to fill jobs. We have hospitals in critical need of more nurses and other licensed professionals. We have students who want to attend college but can’t afford childcare,” he said.

“Until every job is filled, until we can turn out as many graduates as we need, until we can serve every student who has their dream of going to college fulfilled, our work is not done and we are not doing enough.

“This is a competitive environment. If we only stand still, we will get passed by,” he said.