The partnership between Tryon International Equestrian Center and Isothermal Community College has received a top state honor. The State Board of Community Colleges announced on Friday the 2016 recipients of the President of the Year, Excellence in Teaching, Staff of the Year and Distinguished Partners in Excellence awards, as well as the I.E Ready Award, the highest honor bestowed on an individual by the board.

Isothermal Community College and Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC) were named Distinguished Partners in Excellence. When TIEC was opened in 2014, Isothermal and TIEC immediately embraced a partnership. TIEC participates in campus programs, has sponsored ICC’s 50th Anniversary recognition events, assisted a grant application for ICC’s new Comprehensive Applied Science and Technology Center, and serves on the college’s Equine, Agribusiness, and Hospitality Advisory Committees.

Additionally, TIEC has volunteered to host an apprenticeship program, which is part of an Appalachian Regional Commission grant to ICC and to offer its facilities to conduct apprenticeship training.

“Isothermal appreciates TIEC as an industry partner and it, along with the college, is transforming an area that was devastated by the Great Recession, giving it life again and taking it in a new direction,” said Isothermal’s president, Walter Dalton.

The award will be presented later this year during a ceremony in Raleigh.

– Submitted by Mike Gavin