AC receives $100,000 safety grant from Texas Mutual

Brianna Maestas, Amarillo Globe-News
·2 min read

Amarillo College (AC) received a $100,000 grant from Texas Mutual for continued funding for the college's Safety and Environment Technology program during a Thursday morning check presentation held at the Washington Street campus in the Palo Duro Room.

The grant will provide free workplace safety courses for community employers, workers and the general public. According to the college, AC's risk management program, launched in 2016, was created to provide training for increased safety awareness and to reduce work related accidents and injuries. In 2023 alone, the college provided safety training classes to more than 900 students.

Texas Mutual presents Amarillo College with a $100,000 grant to offer free safety and preventative courses to the community. The check was presented Thursday morning in the Palo Duro Room of AC's Washington Street campus.
Texas Mutual presents Amarillo College with a $100,000 grant to offer free safety and preventative courses to the community. The check was presented Thursday morning in the Palo Duro Room of AC's Washington Street campus.
Texas Mutual presents Amarillo College (AC) with a $100,000 grant, to offer free safety and preventative courses to the community, as stated in a Thursday morning check presentation held in the Palo Duro Room of AC's Washington Street campus.
Texas Mutual presents Amarillo College (AC) with a $100,000 grant, to offer free safety and preventative courses to the community, as stated in a Thursday morning check presentation held in the Palo Duro Room of AC's Washington Street campus.

"One of the things about the partnership between Amarillo College and Texas Mutual is its longevity. We are in our ninth year now, and over those nine years, each year there is $100,000 given to the college to support the region, as well as the community itself and the employers," Scott Bain, regional safety services manager for Texas Mutual, said.

"This will continue; Amarillo College does a great job in supporting the many employers here, in that they host these trainings to keep employees safe," Bain added.

Classes offered include first aid, CPR, AED, fire extinguisher training, wilderness protection, active shooter training, confined space training, mental health first aid, workplace self defense classes, many OSHA protection courses and much more.

"Everything we do in those courses are free to the public; there are no requirements. It is really easy registration. I always overbook, so there is room for extras who want to come, and we are able to get as many people trained as we can," Jeff Wallick, Director of Sales and Promotions at AC, said.

Jeff Wallick, director of sales and promotions at Amarillo College (AC), accepts a $100,000 grant from Texas Mutual allowing AC to offer free safety and preventative courses to the community. The Thursday morning check presentation was held in the Palo Duro Room of AC's Washington Street campus.
Jeff Wallick, director of sales and promotions at Amarillo College (AC), accepts a $100,000 grant from Texas Mutual allowing AC to offer free safety and preventative courses to the community. The Thursday morning check presentation was held in the Palo Duro Room of AC's Washington Street campus.
Texas Mutual senior safety services consultant Paxton LeMond presents Amarillo College (AC) with a $100,000 grant to offer free safety and preventative courses to the community. The Thursday morning check presentation was held in the Palo Duro Room of AC's Washington Street campus.
Texas Mutual senior safety services consultant Paxton LeMond presents Amarillo College (AC) with a $100,000 grant to offer free safety and preventative courses to the community. The Thursday morning check presentation was held in the Palo Duro Room of AC's Washington Street campus.

Texas Mutual senior safety services consultant Paxton LeMond spoke about why safety knowledge is important for the local workforce and why they continue to fund those services through AC.

"Amarillo does a really great job in supporting the community, local businesses their employees, especially in the safety realm. We always want to do everything that we can to prevent workplace accidents. That is the ultimate goal, and we do that through the support we offer, just like the $100,000 safety grant offered here today," LeMond said.

"We enjoy working with AC. We want to cover every type of risk in any industry across the state, and we feel like AC offers that," LeMond added.

For more information about the Amarillo College Safety and Environmental Technology program, visit actx.edu/safety/safety-class-schedule online or contact Jeff Wallick at (806) 467-3040 or jwallick@actx.edu.

For more information on Texas Mutual and its work in the community, visit texasmutual.com.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Texas Mutual grants AC $100,000; offering free safety courses