Tara Kuipers

Bob Newsome

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The makeup of the Northwest College Board of Trustees looks to remain the same for at least the next two years.

Incumbent Cody subdistrict trustees Bob Newsome and Tara Kuipers held onto their seats against a challenge by Ted Smith, an NWC student and UW Extension horticulture specialist.

Kuipers, a consultant, received 36.59% (4,107) of the vote and Newsome, a retired Cody business owner, received 35.71% (4,009), while Smith received 26.84% (3,013) in unofficial results.

I’m very excited for what’s ahead,” Kuipers said Wednesday. “The focus on consistently implementing the work that’s been started with the strategic plan is the main focus and the most exciting thing to look forward to.”

She told the Tribune earlier this fall she wanted a second term to be able to continue on the school's successes of the first, including rebounding from Covid restrictions and declining enrollment to now be in a position where enrollment is rising and a new student center is nearly complete.

“There's just so much excitement, and there's so many things that are just emerging, and there's just a really positive energy at the campus right now,” she told the Tribune. “And I would be excited to be part of it for another four years.”

Newsome had said previously that in his third term he wants to continue to focus on providing more career and technical education for students that can lead to good paying jobs in the region.

“I’m certainly happy,” he said Wednesday morning. “I’ll continue to try and do the thing myself and other board members have worked on the last several years. We’ll continue to try to go forward … I see lots of opportunity.”

He reiterated his focus on career and technical education Wednesday, noting he has plumbing issues in his house and a building he owns and one of the plumbers he works with said he would hire a plumber to work alonsgide him in a second.

“Those are jobs that people, men and women, can acquire, and if they choose to stay here and make a living, is a very good thing,” he said.

In the Powell subdistrict, incumbent Mark Wurzel ran unopposed for a third term on the board and incumbent R.J. Kost was the lone candidate to finish out the final two-year term he was appointed to last fall after then trustee Dusty Spomer stepped down.

Wurzel, a family physician, has been in leadership positions on the board including as a past chairman.

Kost, a former educator and state senator, expressed in a candidate forum his desire to ensure NWC students continue to receive a top notch education.