Local brewing company Odell is donating $100,000 to Colorado State University’s fermentation science program.

Fort Collins is growing as a city where brewing companies are prospering. The monetary contribution to CSU will help continue to support the growth of the fermentation practice and major offered at CSU.

The money will mostly go towards equipping the new brewing lab in the Gifford building, but the ultimate hope is to hire well-trained CSU students upon graduation, according to Corkie Odell. The idea is that Odell can support the community while keeping employees localized.

“We heard that the program needed funds – and those funds won’t magically appear,” Doug Odell said in a press release. “So, we started talking about how we could help out.”

Doug Odell has been involved in the CSU fermentation program since 2003 when he spoke as a guest speaker for a food processing course taught by Professor Jack Avens. He became increasingly involved, offering internships and hiring individuals who completed Avens’ courses. In 2008, Odell donated the brewing system that is currently installed at CSU.

Biannually, Avens turns down 20 to 40 students based on the increased demand for the program. The $100,000 donation from Odell is on top of a $250,000 donation from Anheuser-Busch made in April.

Collegian Senior Reporter Josephine Bush can be reached at news@collegian.com.