ϳԹ's Council of Trustees on Friday approved the naming of a conference room in IUP's Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex in honor of the PNC Foundation.
The PNC Foundation made a $300,000 gift to the KCAC in July.
The donation will be used for construction costs for the facility, a 150,000-square-foot building that will offer a 4,000- to 6,000-seat arena, administrative offices and state-of-the-art conference facilities.
“To have a national corporation like PNC make a commitment to the KCAC is recognition of the significance of this facility for this entire region's economic growth and prosperity,” said Dr. Robert O. Davies, vice president for University Relations at IUP.
The KCAC is projected to have a $22 million economic impact on the region during construction, scheduled for fall 2008 to spring 2011, and an annual economic impact of $12.5 million in each year of operation. The KCAC site is along Wayne Avenue adjacent to the university.
“T Kovalchick complex will provide an important amenity for both the university and surrounding area,” PNC Bank Pittsburgh Regional President Sylvan Holzer said. “It represents an investment by the university which, through the strength of its academic programs, already serves as an engine for regional growth and development. PNC values the mutually beneficial and long relationship we have with several facets of ϳԹ and its population. We see signs of it every day through the many graduates who have found employment with PNC.”
The KCAC is named in honor of the Kovalchick family, of Indiana, in recognition of the family's $2 million donation to the project.
The PNC Foundation's priority is to form partnerships with community-based nonprofit organizations within the markets PNC serves in order to enhance educational opportunities for children, particularly underserved pre-K children, through its PNC Grow Up Great initiative, and to promote the growth of targeted communities through economic development.
The PNC Foundation receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC), one of the nation's largest diversified financial services organizations.