Jack Bergman

ALPENA — On Nov. 12, the United States House of Representatives approved the Senate amendment to H.R. 5371, and President Donald Trump signed the bill into law.

In addition to providing stopgap funding needed to keep the government open through Jan. 30, the bill also included a minibus of three spending bills — including the agriculture spending bill. Funding for ACC’s Fiscal year 2026 Community Project Funding (CPF) request through Congressman Jack Bergman — the Natural Resources and STEM Innovation Center project — was included in this bill in the amount of $3,527,100. With funding now approved, ACC will need to coordinate with the Rural Development Community Facilities office to finalize the process and authorize the release of the funds.

Getting this request across the finish line has been a multi-year effort. ACC originally submitted the Natural Resources and STEM Innovation Center project to Rep. Bergman during the FY25 CPF process, and while it was chosen by the Congressman for submission/funding consideration, due to the passage of a full-year continuing resolution, none of the projects submitted by any Member of Congress were ultimately funded. Bergman resubmitted ACC’s project earlier this year as part of the FY26 CPF process, and fortunately, the funding was signed into law on Nov. 12 of last year.

The next steps for ACC will be to work with the USDA Rural Development Community Facilities staff to begin implementing the many mandatory steps required to access this funding. Landing the remainder of the funding to begin the estimated $8.5 million NRC renovation project is also ongoing with particular focus on a $4.25 million Capital Outlay request through the State of Michigan.

The college thanked Bergman and his legislative staff for their ongoing support in the process, because it will be significantly beneficial to ACC.