Long before officials gripped ceremonial groundbreaking shovels and perhaps even before architects started designing Iowa Central Community College’s new biofuels testing lab, something happened that made it a true public-private partnership.

Two private entities gave the college valuable land that would eventually become the site of the new lab.

In 2011, Tom and Phyllis Cairney donated the site of the former Colonial Inn on A Street West to the college.

Then last year, Casey’s General Stores donated some property where one of its stores once stood along A Street West, immediately south of the Cairney donation. The two parcels together provide space for the new lab, with room to expand it to the north if necessary.

College President Jesse Ulrich described the lab as an example of a public-private partnership when college officials and representatives of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance gathered for the July 17 groundbreaking ceremony.

The new lab will measure 9,200 square feet and will be able to house more testing equipment than the current one, which is located in the BioScience and Health Sciences Building on campus. It is expected to be completed in August or September 2024. The two land donations are making that possible.

The Cairneys and Casey’s General Stores did something notable and noble with these donations. They willingly gave away valuable property on a bustling commercial strip. They could have sold those properties for a nice profit.

Cynics will say that the family and the company got a tax writeoff for the donations. Perhaps they did. We don’t think it’s wrong to give a tax break to those who donate land to a community college for a project that will benefit everyone who owns or drives a vehicle in this state.

We thank Tom and Phyllis Cairney and Casey’s General Stores for their donations which are making the new biofuels lab possible.