The Uintah Basin begins to Blossom
Every morning for as many mornings as he can remember, Bob Williams has greeted the day with his personal axiom in mind: “Nothing happens until somebody does something.” Over the course of his life, Williams has made some tremendous things happen in business, and just when people thought he would sell all and retire, he and his family decided to do “something more.” They made a gift of 138 acres of land, valued at $5.3 million, to Utah State University Uintah Basin. Now the land, located in Vernal, Utah, is fueling dreams where alfalfa once grew. “It's quite a sight,” exclaims Williams. “Every farmer can appreciate a good piece of ground, but to see these buildings going up...,” and there is a slight pause and a clearing of his throat, “Why this is a beautiful sight. Who would have thought all this would happen?”
Williams and his family donated the land in December of 2005. Since then the work and the giving have continued to escalate. In March of 2006, legislative funding for the joint Uintah Basin Applied Technology Center/Utah State University Vernal Classroom building was secured, in great part, because Williams had already donated the land. Utah legislators quickly recognized the personal and community commitments and set about appropriating $10 million for the new facility.
The joint facility will play host to both the UBATC and Utah State. The UBATC will feature technical training in areas related to local industry: petroleum technology, safety training, and its latest addition, well-control simulation. The UBATC has purchased a state-of-the-art simulator that will attract workforce training from around the Intermountain West. “There are only two other simulators like it in the world,” says UBATC President Paul Hacking. “The closest one in operation now is in Houston, Texas, but we will have one in the Uintah Basin.” On the USU side of things, there will be a variety of general classrooms, faculty offices, computer labs, a bookstore, and interactive distance education rooms.
Science and nursing are two other specialties of the joint facility. UBATC will conduct its CNA, LPN and RN programs. “This fits nicely with USU's mission,” notes USU President Stan Albrecht. “USU provides the prerequisite courses for nursing programs in partnership with other institutions in the state, and the fact that we can do that in the same place in conjunction with the UBATC makes all our programs more effective.”
“We feel fortunate to be part of the USU Uintah Basin Campus master plan,” says Hacking. “Were it not for the Williams family and their generosity, for President Albrecht's vision of a regional campus system, and the Basin community, we would not enjoy our current levels of success.”
Expanding the vision
With the UBATC/USU Vernal Classroom building under way, a team of USU officials, under the direction of President Albrecht, began conceptualization of another facility: the Uintah Basin Entrepreneurship and Energy Research Center. Vice President for Research Brent Miller was charged to write a white paper for use in swaying federal officials to help in funding the construction. “We really felt like the timing was right,” says Miller. “The oil and gas industry demonstrated and continues to demonstrate a need for a research component, and we really felt like the Basin economy would flourish with added research components.” And while the group diligently went about seeking federal assistance, local Vernal residents Marc and Debbie Bingham entered the picture.
Marc Bingham knows full well the weight and force of maintaining a vision and of working hard. A native of Uintah County, he spent his youth growing up on the family farm. “I milked cows, irrigated fields and did all kinds of chores,” recalls Bingham, “but even with the every-day chores I was always motivated.”
For Bingham, a serious accident he suffered when he was 4 created a lifelong will to push barriers aside. “When I was 4 years old, I had a bad burn on my leg; it was my own fault.” He had started a small fire and tried to stamp it out himself. In so doing, he suffered horrible burns when his pants were engulfed. Not wanting to reveal his pyrotechnic antics to his parents, he delayed saying anything to anyone about the fire or the burn. When the pain finally overcame him, he confessed, and spent the next six months in the hospital, where he endured skin grafts.
“Not the smartest thing I've ever done,” quips Bingham, “but I learned a lesson and I never complained.” He stayed motivated to recover, he overcame obstacle after obstacle and ended up breaking several track records at Uintah High School. His success in track won him a track scholarship to USU. But his academic progress at USU, in his own words, was slow. After his first two years, he took a quarter off but then came charging back. He took 21 hours and an additional nine credits of correspondence course work. The efforts placed Bingham at the top of the dean's list.
“For me, 1963 was a really good year; I graduated from USU with a bachelor's degree,” he says. From there it was off to work in wildlife management in Arizona, Idaho and Utah with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Bingham learned a great deal in those years. “I love the outdoors, I love the wildlife, but, more importantly, I really learned a great deal about people.”
Bingham's people skills were further honed as he and his family moved to Price, Utah, where Marc took a position with the Bureau of Land Management. “When I was in Price, I connected with a community service group, the Jaycees. The Jaycees taught me more about people than I could ever imagine and I learned something more about myself. I have always been motivated, but I learned that I could really motivate others.”
Marc's enthusiasm and his drive are uniquely contagious, and when he met up with a friend who happened to work for Mountain Bell, the motivation became a new impetus. Drawing from experiences in his earlier years, Bingham decided to assemble a better phone book. “At the time,” he explains, “telephone books were tied to the utility lines themselves. That's a nightmare for business owners.” He decided to assemble a phone book that was market driven and included more than one phone company. “Business owners really liked the idea. They only had to advertise in one book,” says Bingham. “The idea was simple enough, but getting it started was a real gamble. We put everything on the line.” He took $5000 from his government retirement fund and dove in head first.
“We just had a couple of real good employees to sell ads, and we had to get lots of help in design and layout.” Still, there were times when he literally “borrowed from Peter to pay Paul.” “We borrowed money against our equipment to meet payroll and take care of people. We always made our best efforts to take care of our people,” Bingham says. While his attitude and commitment to take care of his employees set the tone for his business, there were others who would have loved to see him fail. “We had our share of rough rides. More than one phone company brought a lawsuit against us,” Bingham recalls. “The outcome always seemed to be the same. The attorneys made money for a few years and then we'd settle the thing out of court.”
Undaunted, Bingham moved forward to build Phone Directories Company, named one of the top 500 companies in America. The company operated in 137 different markets, mainly in the west, and was successful in distributing more than 8 million phone books. In December of 2005, Bingham sold his Canadian business and the following summer sold his U.S. company. It was at that juncture that Marc and Debbie Bingham reengaged with Utah State University. “President Albrecht came to visit me and wanted to put me on a board,” Marc says. But because Bingham had been doing some development work in Vernal, he was familiar with the land donation made by the Williams family and with efforts to continue campus growth. “I told Stan I would build a building,” he said. It was at that moment that the Bingham Entrepreneurship and Energy Research Center was born. But the Binghams' $15 million gift would soon be leveraged to do even more.
Expanding the partnerships
With the Bingham Entrepreneurship and Energy Research Center in planning and development, the stage was set for the Uintah Basin to do its part. But research centers are costly. It was determined that USU needed another $6 million to make it a successful project, and it needed infrastructure. Robert Behunin, Assistant to the President for Special Projects, was humbled by the local response. “Beyond the transformational gifts from the Williams family and the Binghams, we needed more to really make the USU mission viable,” Behunin says. “We needed another $6 million to make it a successful project, and we needed infrastructure.”
Working with Behunin and the Uintah Impact Mitigation Special Service District, USU saw another $4.6 million allocated to the Bingham project. “It's a perfect fit,” said Behunin. “District revenues come from mineral lease royalties paid by industry, and the Bingham project will directly benefit industry and help to mitigate educational and social impacts on the community.”
With an additional $3 million in support from Vernal City expected to be secured from the sale of the USU Hwy 40 property in Vernal, the Uintah Transportation Special Service District in concert with Uintah County allocated $20 million for road construction around the campus development, and Vernal City pledged another $1.5 million for utilities. “The level of support and determination is truly overwhelming,” says President Albrecht, “and the investments we are making today will continue to mature and provide stability for years to come.”
Giving and growth continue
With the total development effort topping $80 million dollars, USU was gearing up for yet another announcement. In the fall of 2006, President Albrecht, joined community leaders in starting conversations with a group of oil and gas company executives. There are various multi-national and international companies doing business in the Uintah Basin, and they and their employees have need of higher education and research services. On July 15th of this year, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation finalized its gift of $1.5 million to Utah State University and the Uintah Basin Applied Technology College. The donation will go to assist with the construction of the joint UBATC/USU Vernal Classroom building and to provide for an endowed professorship in engineering at the Uintah Basin Campus.
But engineering is not the only endowed professorship that the Uintah Basin Campus will host. In 2007, local Vernal resident Vonetta Searle donated nine acres of land, valued at $1.2 million to Utah State University Uintah Basin. Proceeds from the sale of that land will fund a business professorship in the Basin. “This is really Woodey's gift,” says Searle of her late husband Woodey Searle. “Woodey was a great entrepreneur. He had a good eye for business, and we have always wanted to help out our young people.” Gayle McKeachnie, long-time family friend and legal counsel to the Searle estate remarks that, “Woodey would have been thrilled to see the progress that has been made in the Basin, and he would have wanted to be personally involved. We are making sure that he is.”
Looking to the future
In a recent meeting with local Uintah Basin leaders and friends, President Albrecht applauded the many years of dedication, commitment and sacrifice made by area residents. “We are among the giants: the Alva Snow family, the Dan Dennis family, the Bob Williams family, the Binghams, the local governments, and the many others who have shared our dreams and visions,” he says. Then Albrecht announced that the USU Uintah Basin Campus had set a goal of $20 million more, as part of USU's ongoing campaign. And Bob Williams got in the last word:
“We can't rest on our laurels too long. Nothing is going to happen unless we continue to do something.”
This article originally appeared in Utah State magazine, Fall 2008 issue. Used with permission.
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