BTC in the News

by Isaac Bonnell
Filed on 02. Jan, 2012 at or read it in the Bellingham Business Journal here.

In her 27 years at Bellingham Technical College, Patricia McKeown has been the dean of every department and been involved in the development or expansion of many of the college’s programs. So she was a natural choice to replace Thomas Eckert as president of the college in December 2010.

BELLINGHAM - On my consumer protection blog, I regularly repeat the old cliché: If it’s too good to be true...

Well, how about oysters on the half shell for $3.95, or Ellensburg double lamb chop with macadamia coconut crust and star anise sauce for $7.95? Those and similar impossible bargains can be found on the menu at Café Culinaire, the restaurant staffed by the 55 students enrolled in Bellingham Technical College’s Culinary Arts Program. Nothing on the menu is more than $7.95.

We weren’t on the reservation list—our names had gotten lost somewhere along the way—but on a recent afternoon at the crowded Café Culinaire, an extra table was brought in for us, and space was made.

WHEN THE most difficult decision you have to make during the course of the day is whether to order the Thai Dungeness crab cakes or the hazelnut-crusted Samish Bay oysters as an appetizer, you know you’ve got it good.

LASSOS WON’T be a necessity when the horn blows at the Bellingham Technical College Friday morning, but they probably wouldn’t hurt. For those taking part in the 8th annual Welding Rodeo, the high-pitched sound will signal teams that it’s time to run for the gigantic scrap pile in front of them in order to snatch up the pieces they want before other competitors get there first.

The scholarship program was established in February 2008 after the Ferndale area refinery donated $50,000 to the college to increase interest in programs related to jobs at refineries. In all, there will be four full-ride scholarships awarded to Lummi Nation students, with the scholarship covering tuition, books and material fees.

1955: Bellingham School District buys five acres on Lindberg Avenue for a vocational school after running evening classes for years out of the Sehome elementary school on High Street.

May 11, 2008 Education Bellingham Technical College turns 50 College Fits Courses to Needs of Industries BELLINGHAM — Over the last 50 years, Bellingham Technical College has grown up, moving from a single building with a handful of programs to a state-of-the-art campus that makes instructors from other schools jealous.

Thousands of people fish Whatcom Creek and thousands of students join with Bellingham Parks and Recreation for field trips each year, but few people realize Bellingham Technical College is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the hatchery and its eggs.

“We’re Bellingham’s best-kept secret,” joked Steele, the director since the program’s beginning. “Bellingham Parks and Rec runs tours, but they’re touring what we’re doing.”

Nicole Long is a 21-year-old graduate of Bellingham Technical College’s auto collision repair technology program. She will speak Friday at the college’s annual Road Less Graveled program, for women interested in nontraditional careers.

Long, who graduated from Bellingham High School, is proud that few BTC graduates are as nontraditional in the work world as she is. She’s the only woman employed in repair work at Richey’s Auto Body and Collision in Bellingham.