Bob Newsome

Cody native Bob Newsome is hoping for a third term on the Northwest College Board of Trustees.

He is running for one of two seats alongside fellow incumbent Tara Kuipers and challenger Ted Smith in the Cody subdistrict. Newsome began serving on the Northwest College Board of Trustees in 2016. He has been through budget cuts, a change of president, Covid issues and more in his eight years.

“It's been very rewarding for me to do that,” he told the Tribune. “I have skills helpful to the college and the time to do it.”

Newsome said he sees plenty of challenges ahead for the college and wants to use his depth of experience to help navigate the issues.

“I've served two terms already and its been very enlightening. Especially the last term with all of the challenges,” he said in a Tuesday candidate forum at NWC. “I hope to continue on to lend my skillset to finances ... I would hope to continue to be a champion for some of the alternative educations such as welding, nursing, CDL which is doing phenomenally well, electrician and HVAC.”

He said he also has connections in Cheyenne thanks to his wife Rep. Sandy Newsome's (R-Cody) three terms in the Legislature, and he hopes to be able to continue to advocate for the college.

Aside from some brief moves elsewhere, Newsome had lived in Park County his whole life, graduating from Cody schools. He attended NWC from 1969 to 1971 but didn’t graduate, although more recently he’s attended welding classes — he was working on a welding project Monday at the college.

He started the Cody outdoors store Sunlight Sports, which he ran for nearly 40 years, as well as other Cody businesses. He has also been involved with search and rescue, teaching climbing classes for youth groups and rescue skills at the Cody Fire School, Sleeping Giant Ski Patrol and The Yellowstone Recreation Foundation.

Newsome said in a third term he'd expect he'd be busier than usual as chair of the board finance committee, as the new makeup of the state Legislature could lead to a change in college finances.

“We haven't been funded at the level we once were, and I think we need to pressure the Legislature to step up to the plate, add more funding, so we can become more competitive with the private structure and pay all the staff ... decent salaries,” he said. “It's going to be a very tough road I believe the next few years in the Legislature due to a very conservative position.”

He's also interested in pursuing the possibility of a name change to Yellowstone College, a proposal he said he was opposed to when he first heard about it. Now he said he leans toward the idea, but only after getting more questions answered, especially as to what the cost will be, and after listening to more opinions on the proposal, especially from those opposed to the change.

“In the last four to five years I've listened to a lot of different people and have heard a lot of compelling reasons to change the name,” he said, noting how much time college staff spend instructing people confused about where the college is. “In today's world, its about trying to set yourself apart. We have a national geographic advantage, a population disadvantage.”

More than anything, though, he said the key goal he has going forward is to continue to push for even more trade programs as they provide well-paying jobs that also allow young people to stay in the region. It's those programs, which he said were absent from the college when he had first attended decades ago, which are the key to the future.