Leadership at Bryant & Stratton says benefits of switch to nonprofit status are plentiful – Buffalo Business First
Amid a year of change for Bryant & Stratton College, the final steps of perhaps the biggest switch are soon at hand.
Administrators at the Buffalo-based college say a switch to nonprofit status should be finalized by early summer with final federal approvals.
The for-profit college has been in the hands of the family of Bryant H. Prentice III since its founding in 1854. Now 80 and without any family members who want to take over, Prentice decided the time has come to turn over the college to a nonprofit foundation for the sake of current and future students, President Fran Felser said. The Buffalo-based Prentice Family Foundation, which was established in 2005 to invest in workforce development and college scholarships, will receive a substantial donation. Administrators would not disclosed the operation’s estimated value.
“He and his wife have been reflecting on, ‘What is in the best interest of the college?’ ” said Felser, who serves on the foundation. “We’re doing this now while Mr. Prentice can participate in managing the process. It’s broad. It will have a profound impact on Western New York.”
Then, of course, there’s the money. As a nonprofit, the college would no longer have to pay federal income tax. And accompanying the transition is a strategic plan that will help identify ways to run more efficiently, Felser said.