Chinese interest in RTC remains high

By Lauren Radomski (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Thursday, May 1, 2008

After a March trip to Hunan Province, members of the Campus Development Group (CDG) say Chinese interest in developing the Regional Treatment Center (RTC) remains high.

Richard Anderson was among the CDG staff meeting with government leaders, university officials and private developers during the trip. The goal of CDC, formerly known as Institute Acquisition Partners, is to partner seven Minnesota and North Dakota universities with at least seven Chinese universities in turning the RTC into a college.

“The focus is going to be international business,” Anderson said of the college. “When (Chinese students) leave here they’ll have a degree, they’ll be billingual, they will have gone to school with students here and understand the cultural nuances.”

Anderson will make a five-week trip to China in late May to continue talks with possible collaborators. On that trip, he said, he will visit a handful of regions outside Hunan Province where developers have also shown interest. Any number of Chinese entities may choose to invest in the RTC project, he said, from public and private universities to corporations.

A high ranking delegation from Hunan Province is tentatively scheduled to visit Fergus Falls in July, Anderson said. The 10 estimated government and education officials would continue talks with the CDG, visit the RTC facility and possibly begin to plan the college’s curriculum, he said.

“Our target date for classes is still fall of ‘09,” Anderson said, adding that work on the project until then will be long and inevitably include setbacks. Even after negotiations are settled, he said, the RTC will require months of construction before it is ready to open as a college.

The wait is to be expected in light of the project’s scope he said.

“You’re creating something that’s very unique.”