Lashua gets down to business

By CHARITY SMITH

[email protected]

Ironwood — Now that Chad Lashua has taken on the role of vice president of business services, Gogebic Community College now has all its vice presidential positions filled.

Lashua is the former director of business services at Nicolet Area Technical College in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, where he held various business-related roles since 2010. He has worked in business and industry fields since 2001. He has a Master of Business Administration degree from Western Governors University, a bachelor’s degree from Upper Iowa University and an associate degree. He is also a graduate of the Wisconsin Leadership Development Institute, which is a program for leaders within Wisconsin’s technical college system.

Lashua said he can bring a new perspective to the business services department. He said it is a new experience working with various groups and there are a lot of challenges and things he can bring forward by thinking outside the box.

“I bring a new perspective. I have been working with different groups and collaborating with multiple colleges over the past few years,” said Lashua. “I really look to innovate, take us into the 21st century. There’s a lot of pieces here at the college which I think can be modernized, upgraded.”

He said some of the stuff that is being done online such as forms and how the college interfaces with its students can be studied. He said they are looking at things that are also looking things that are more interactive. He would like to upgrade software.

“Let’s look at what is new and what’s out there to make it seamless and less redundant,” said Lashua.

He said in some areas, the college might be 10 years behind in technological advances and in other areas, only a year. He said this is because technology is ever-changing and if stuff is not updated every three years, they will just fall farther and farther behind.

“We have been making strides over the last couple years to update our infrastructure and we are continuing to do so,” said Lashua. “I would expect to see more improvements down the road, within three to five years. Nothing is going to happen overnight. Good ideas take time.”

Lashua said he was really impressed with the staff at the college when he came to interview for the position. He said he liked how they care about the students and want them to succeed.

“One of the things I really liked about the college was the culture,” said Lashua. “The warm welcoming feeling. ... That was one of the things that really attracted me to working here.”

He said that HERD funding helped to accelerate some of the offerings and upgrades that the college would not have otherwise been able to do. However, that funding is going away, so he said it will be interesting to see how the college is able to find funding to cover those kinds of projects.

“To be innovative, to be cutting edge, we got to find funding sources,” he said.

While moving from one community college to another might seem like a lateral move, Lashua said that GCC is very different from Nicolet Technical College. He said that GCC offers athletic programs, and dormitories, whereas Nicolet is a commuter college.

“This has more of the traditional college feel,” Lashua said of GCC.

He said he thinks that there is a push for people to move north within the next 10-15 years. “To be cutting edge, this is where you are going to want to be moving forward,” said Lashua.

Lashua grew up in Fox Valley, Wisconsin, and now lives in Montreal. However, he frequently visits Rhinelander, where his wife and children have decided to remain, as his wife has a business there and they want their children to finish their schooling.

Lashua said he is familiar with area as he has frequently come to the U.P. to view the waterfalls and sightsee. He said his kids have come up to ski.

“To me, it’s no different (than the Rhinelander area). You have a small town feel where people are invested in their community,” Lashua said.

Lashua said he loves the outdoors and said he is into cross country skiing, hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, visiting waterfalls, and traveling with his family. He said he really enjoys the Northwoods and is looking forward to growing the relationships the college has with the community, and building some innovative programing.