They said it before and Thursday, they said it again: Lawrence County Commissioners support a proposed community college at Collins Career Center.

The commission agreed to issue another resolution in support of the idea and send it to the Ohio Board of Regents and the area's state lawmakers in an effort to sway their opinions.

This came after career center officials and consultants hired to perform a feasibility study of the proposed community college presented the findings of that study to the commission during its regular meeting. The conclusion of the study is that the county's economic future

and the future of its 60,000-plus citizens would benefit from having a community college within its borders.

The county commissioners had first voiced its official support of the CCC proposal late last year.

"This commission is already on record as

in total support. The people you need to show this to is state people," Commission President George Patterson said. "… We've supported it from day one."

Keith Molihan, of Yankee Consultants who conducted the feasibility study, said the study was presented Wednesday to four members of the Ohio Board of

Regents as well as some of the area's elected officials in Columbus. He said some officials, such as State Representative Clyde Evans and State Senator Tom Niehaus, have already voiced support for the the idea.

He hopes others will follow suit. Legislative support can be crucial to the idea: If the BOR refuses to create a community college at CCC, the other option is to have it created by act of the state legislature.

In a meeting late last year with county commissioners, BOR members and staff said they preferred to have Collins Career Center partner with other entities to provide programs rather than become a community college.

"The BOR could do this or it could be an obstacle," Molihan said.

Thomas N. Applegate,

the Austin, Texas, Community College Dean who validated the Yankee Consultants study, said concerns that a community college would duplicate programs already offered by Ohio University Southern and other nearby institutions are unfounded for several reasons: Two-year and four-year facilities appeal to different groups of people; and since two-year colleges tend to support, rather than detract from four-year colleges;

students who are the first in their families to attend college are more likely to first choose a two-year college; and Ohio has a shortage of college campuses.

"Duplication? That's a scare word," Applegate said. "The conclusion (of our study) is that duplication will be minimal and have no adverse effect."

Applegate said the study shows the benefits of having a community college are numerous and far outweigh any concerns opponents have and there is no reason to wait for a second study being conducted by the BOR before taking action.

"Whether or not to create a community college must be based on what's good for people, not what's good for an institution," Applegate said.