Thursday March 28th, 2024 3:58PM

Irvin Foundation presents $500,000 seed for school of agriculture in Clarkesville

CLARKESVILLE — The contributions of longtime Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin and his wife Bernice will continue for future generations in the state.

On Tuesday, members of the Irvin family joined North Georgia Technical College officials for the official announcement of the Tommy and Bernice Irvin School of Agriculture at North Georgia Technical College.

“We’re as excited about today as anything we’ve had in a while,” said NGTC President Mark Ivester. “It’s kind of getting back to our roots. The college started in the early 1900s as an A&M [agricultural and mechanical] school and all these years we’ve had and are sitting on 300 acres of property, and it’s time now where we can actually train and provide skills for people in the area to have their own small farm.”

Ivester mentioned farm to table, vineyard technology and agritourism as a few of the growing areas that have given farming new opportunities.

“There’s a lot of opportunities in ag and we’re so excited,” Ivester said. “We think this is going to be a big opportunity.”

Ivester said full implementation of the school of agriculture will take a couple of years, but agribusiness and agriscience programs will begin in 2018.

“It’ll be probably two years to get everything really going like we want it to,” Ivester said.

James Irvin said the donation is important to the Irvin family.

“Us being lifelong residents of Habersham County and having the opportunity to help establish an agricultural school here in North Georgia, I’m sure that in the future it will rival any of those throughout the state,” Irvin said. “It will give the students here in Northeast Georgia the opportunity to attend an agricultural college that is close by home. And my mom and dad’s foundation, we are also going to establish some scholarship programs for the ag students so that they’ll have the financial resources that they need to continue their opportunities in agriculture, because it is and has been and was in the 40-something years that my dad served as agriculture commissioner the No. 1 industry in the state of Georgia. And we’re just proud to be able to have the opportunity to take a part in that legacy for the Tommy and Bernice Irvin School of Agriculture here at North Georgia Technical College.”

David Irvin, son of the Irvins, said the new school plays an important role in the future of the area and in society.

“Agriculture is very important to this community, to the state and to the world,” Irvin said. “We’re always going to need farmers, so it’s a wonderful thing that we still have schools that teach agriculture.”

Ivester said Irvin’s name is widely known in agriculture, not just in Georgia but throughout the nation.

“Tommy Irvin’s name with ag is synonymous,” Ivester said. “We sent a group of instructors to Kentucky to look at an Agroponics program last week, and they mentioned Tommy Irvin and they knew of Tommy Irvin. He’s a national figure, not just a state figure. For his name to be on the program, it’s just exciting.”

  • Associated Categories: Homepage, Local/State News, Georgia News
  • Associated Tags: Habersham County, north georgia technical college, clarkesville, Tommy and Bernice Irvin School of Agriculture
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