WOODLAND HILLS : 2 Nominated to Lead Pierce Foundation

In an effort to soften the sting of public funding cuts with private donations, the board of the Foundation for Pierce College has nominated the administrator of Kaiser Permanente in Woodland Hills and the head of a large egg company to its two top posts.

Kaiser Administrator James L. Breeden) and Olson Farms President Peter D. Olson are expected to become the best-known leaders yet of the campus fund-raising arm, said foundation Executive Director Esther Kenyon. Breeden and Olson, who became board members a year ago, were the only two nominees for chairman and vice chairman, respectively, in October and are expected to be confirmed Dec. 16.

The addition of two well-connected professionals to such visible posts could not come at a better time for Pierce, which faces its worst financial crisis, said President Lowell Erickson.

“We’re getting to the point where we need to look for private funding, not only for the frosting, but for some of the cake too,” Erickson said. “That these two have accepted leadership roles is a big lift.” Among other things, Breeden is expected to take the lead in efforts to raise $215,000 to revamp the college’s fitness center.

Olson, who has ties to the agriculture community, will help plot the future of the Pierce College Farm, where programs have been deeply cut, Kenyon said.

Breeden and Olson were unavailable for comment Monday.

The foundation, which hired a professional staff for the first time a year and a half ago, raises funds mostly for facilities. Modernized facilities attract more students to the school, which, in turn, brings in more state funds, Kenyon said.

Pierce administrators were caught off guard last year when the community college district cut the college’s budget by about $3 million and again this fall when enrollment dropped. The school made a controversial deal with a local developer to accept 425,000 cubic yards of topsoil in exchange for cash and drainage improvements.

“Obviously, the money that’s being allocated by the state is not enough to cover the costs of education on every level,” Kenyon said. “Every other college and university, and even some grade schools, are fund raising on the side. We’ve got to do the same.”