Ozarks Technical Community College dedicated the Rick’s Automotive Student Lounge today, Thursday, May 9. The lounge is in the newly remodeled Industry and Transportation Technology Center. In 2022, Rick and Karen Hughlett donated to the new Robert W. Plaster Center for Advanced Manufacturing to establish a student lounge in the PMC.
“We continue to donate to OTC because we know that every dollar invested will come back many times over in keeping Southwest Missouri supplied with a professionally trained and skilled workforce,” said Rick Hughlett.
Rick Hughlett and his wife, Karen, have a long history with OTC. Rick attended the precursor to OTC, the Graff Area Vocational-Technical Center. OTC absorbed Graff Vo-Tech when the college was created. In 1980, Rick and Karen founded Rick’s Automotive. Not long after the college opened its doors, Rick became involved with OTC on the automotive technology advisory board. Later, the college asked Rick to serve on the OTC Foundation Board, a position he still holds today.
In addition to their donations to establish the two student lounges, Rick’s Automotive also invests in other OTC Foundation initiatives. The Hughletts and Rick’s Automotive have also supported:
- The Rick and Karen Hughlett Scholarship
- The Student Emergency Fund
- The Automotive Program
- The Golf Tournament
- various other funds
Rick and Karen Hughlett
Rick and Karen understand the life-changing power of education because Hughlett’s training at Graff Vo Tech made his future success possible. Now, their donations “pay it forward” to educate a new generation of students who hope to be successful.
“Our gifts to OTC are donations from the heart,” Karen Hughlett said. “It is money we are happy to give.”