Fresno State Athletics
NykelBam International, LLC Pledges $10 Million to Fresno State Athletics
6/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | General
June 16, 2009
FRESNO, Calif. - A $10 million gift commitment to Fresno State Athletics from NykelBam International, LLC will transform athletics facilities, provide scholarships and enhance the experience for student-athletes. This gift commitment represents the largest philanthropic pledge ever received in the history of Fresno State Athletics.
The gift commitment was announced Tuesday by Director of Athletics Thomas Boeh. The pledge will fund $8 million in capital improvements for the "Athletics Mall" as detailed in the athletics facility master plan and provide $2 million towards student-athlete scholarships. The capital improvement component of the pledge will help construct the sports medicine center, a student-athlete village, the soccer/lacrosse stadium and an artificial playing surface in Bulldog Stadium.
"It is an honor to be here today as we mark the next exciting chapter in the `New Era of Bulldog Athletics'," said Boeh. "We believe that this extraordinary pledge will provide both the financial resources and momentum necessary to remain competitive among the nation's elite. This gift commitment will ensure future scholarship opportunities as well as greatly enhance our capacity to best-serve the daily needs of our student-athletes.
"It is especially gratifying that this pledge comes to us from a company that has its roots in Fresno State Athletics. On behalf of all our staff and student-athletes, I would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to NykelBam International, LLC and Alphonso and Kristi Bigelow."
Alphonso Bigelow, CEO of NykelBam, LLC, spearheaded this pledge. A Long Beach native, Mr. Bigelow is a 1996 graduate of the Craig School of Business and a four-year football player under then head coach Jim Sweeney. His wife Kristi (Coelho) is a Fresno State alumna from the College of Health and Human Services and participated on the school dance team. They make their home in Fresno along with their two children.
"I would like to thank the Board of Directors of NykelBam International, LLC for giving me the opportunity to give back to my alma mater. As a former student-athlete, my wife and I feel strongly about the student-athlete experience at Fresno State and understand the importance of first-class facilities and scholarship support," Bigelow said.
Over the past year the Fresno State Athletics department has enjoyed many achievements both on and off the field and courts of play. Rapidly rising Academic Progress Rates, numerous league championships, two consecutive WAC Commissioner's Cups all added to last June's historic victory in Omaha and the second NCAA Division I National Championship in Bulldog history.
QUOTES
Quotes by Danny White the Associate Athletic Director for Development:
"We've had a lot of families and organizations in the valley that have supported Fresno State through the years and brought us to the point where we are today and built a foundation for us in the future."
Quotes by Paul Ladwig the Associate Athletic Director for Broadcasting and External Relations:
"It's an historic day here at Fresno State Athletics. We really, truly appreciate each and every one of you in the room today. It's a very special day today."
Quotes by Director of Athletics Thomas Boeh:
"A big welcome to everyone here. It is a distinct honor for me to be here today in an historic moment to announce a transformational gift here. I want to take a few minutes to give you a little bit of a history as to how we arrived here today. As you know, the Bulldog Foundation for over half a century has conducted an annual fund and built money for the scholarships for our student-athletes. About five years ago a group was formed under the direction of President Welty and some others in the room, to look into how we could combine fundraising at Fresno State into the athletic department and how we could take the next step. And from that group, a new Bulldog Foundation restructuring came out of it with an aggressive approach to building the annual fund as well as pursuing philanthropic gifts and capital gifts. You can see that today we are meeting some of those goals that were set five years ago by the Bulldog Foundation under the very terrific leadership of Danny White and the support of Jay Vickers and his staff. The Bulldog Foundation continues to evolve."
"The other tradition that we are looking to build upon here at Fresno State is what we refer to as the student-athlete experience. We've said repeatedly that nothing is more important to us then building the very best experience possible for our student-athletes. It is these young men and women that represent Fresno State on a regular basis and are the ones that are making us proud. Part of that experience is their facilities and the quality of their facilities. A few years ago we put together a plan that we call the athletics mall. It's terribly exciting that this project took a huge step to being built today with this commitment from NykelBam International. And it is incredibly gratifying that the CEO of NykelBam International is a former student-athlete at Fresno State. We are extremely grateful to the company and to the Bigelow family that today that we can announce that we can get started on these projects because we have a gift commitment of $10 million from NykelBam International to get moving. Thank you very much to you and your firm and for the leadership that you have shown here today. We thank you and we are going to make good use of it."
Quotes by Alphonso Bigelow, CEO of NykelBam, LLC:
"First and foremost I would like to thank my wife for putting up with my travels and late nights of working, my mom for her support and love and my best friends who are also here for putting up with my late nights and early mornings. Being a former student-athlete, I got the privilege of being mentored by several people, including my coaches and a lot of the Bulldog Foundation members along with a lot of players. My company and my board of directors actually let me choose where to make the donation and my wife and I decided to choose Fresno State. We are both former student-athletes here and we both feel that the people here are changing the lives of the young kids that come into this community. I feel that this is not only going to enhance the recruiting of our athletes but it's going to help our community as a whole. Hopefully we can maintain and keep these caliber of kids here in the community. Thanks again."
Quotes by University President Dr. John Welty:
"This is a great day of celebration for Fresno State Athletics, the University and our community. Certainly Fresno State Athletics has much to celebrate. Student-athlete performance in the classroom continues to improve every year. The competitive success of our teams is recognized that by the fact for the second-straight year the program has won the WAC Commissioners Cup and through it all we know that our donors have supported us and been with us for many, many years and each step of the way to help make the difference and to pave the way for success of our student-athletes at Fresno State. NykelBam International and Alphonso Bigelow have expressed a desire and a commitment to improve the university and the region by supporting Fresno State Athletics and this wonderful commitment will help us to address those facility needs and scholarship needs for those student-athletes in the coming years. We know that this will help us to attract and retain the very best student-athletes and coaches and once they come here they often stay in this region. Alphonso is a living example of someone who came here from Long Beach, studied here, worked here and now is a member of this community giving back. Over 200,000 alumni of Fresno State now touch every facet of the world in which we live. And whatever their line of work, the Fresno State alumni uses their experience to give back to the community in which they live. Today as we thank Alphonso and his firm, I think it's important that we remember why we are here, to provide that opportunity for student-athletes, and when they take full advantage of that opportunity they give back. So Alphonso on behalf of the entire community thank you. Our work has just begun and we have a lot to do. Thank you again for giving us that opportunity."
Quotes by Moses Harris, football:
"There will be a lot more opportunities for future alumni to donate money. He just opened up the door for them. This is just a start to improve the facilities for football and for the soccer and lacrosse teams to get their stadium. For football specifically, the new surface will be great in cold weather and easier to play on."
Quotes by Lauren Satterlee, women's soccer:
"It's a wonderful, generous gift for us. I'm really excited for our new field to be done. I think we will be a better soccer team because of it. For all student-athletes I think it will help to bring us closer together and give us all a better opportunity to be closer with our community as well."
Quotes by Paul George, men's basketball:
"This is big for recruiting and for people to come here in general. For our facilities it will make them the top of the line and attract a lot of fans and athletes."
Quotes by Megan Ashjian, women's soccer:
"I think this will attract more people with the new facilities and the new stadium seating. Hopefully it will get more people out to the games and bring the community together. We can't wait to play on that new field and defend our WAC title."
Quotes by Heather Jack, women's lacrosse:
"As far as lacrosse goes, we are the rookie sport at Fresno State and it's awesome to be a part of this historic gift. My teammates and I are just so excited that the stadium is starting to be built and I know that the soccer team is as well. Once this is done it will be amazing to see the overwhelming community support and get more people to come out to the games and make it more fun for everyone."
To view video of Tuesday's press conference CLICK HERE
