Today Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) announced a partnership with the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation to modernize its Business Building and transform its School of Business. The improvements are made possible through a generous $10 million gift from the Miller Family Foundation and Gail Miller, the largest-ever single cash donation received by the college. 

SLCC is renaming its Business Building the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Business Building in honor of the Miller family’s legacy and contributions to the community. The business school at SLCC's Taylorsville campus will be named the Gail Miller School of Business in recognition of the strong business acumen Gail Miller displays as a community leader and as the owner and immediate past chair of the Larry H. Miller Company. This name change will make SLCC home to the only business school in Utah and one of only a few in the country to be named exclusively after a woman.

“We are deeply humbled by the generosity of Gail and the Miller family and the extraordinary leadership they provide to our community,” said SLCC President Deneece G. Huftalin. “And I am particularly thrilled to be the first in the state to name a business school after a successful businesswoman and leader. The Gail Miller School of Business amplifies Gail’s amazing skills as a business leader and the success she has achieved through hard work, courage, leading with integrity and a fierce commitment to serving the community.  It is a powerful signal to young women that they too can achieve great success in the C-suite. We are grateful for this gift and for the friendship and support the Miller family has given to the college over the years. SLCC is a better institution because of their involvement and commitment to our students.”

The gift will also enable SLCC to strengthen the high-impact learning practices in its business courses such as undergraduate research and real-world problem solving. Modeled after the Miller’s commitment to serving the community as they do business, the new Business Scholars Program will require students to work with a faculty mentor each semester to create cause-related or nonprofit projects that benefit the community. 

"When I think of Salt Lake Community College, I think of opportunity," said Gail Miller, chair of the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation, addressing the crowd standing outside the current business school building. "There is opportunity here for everyone who desires to make their lives better. Salt Lake Community College plays an important role in developing future business leaders and problem solvers. The knowledge they gain here will enrich lives and strengthen communities.” 

Ms. Miller continued, "I often remind students that education is something that you will always have. Nobody can ever take it away from you. The wonderful thing about education is that you can give it away and still have it. Sharing it magnifies it. It reinforces the ability to strengthen not only you, but those you share it with."

Before she handed the $10 million check to President Deneece G. Huftalin, Gail Miller shared eight principles to the audience and especially to the students.

"I hope the students who attend this school will learn some simple things during their lifetime.

Be kind. Kindness creates permanent change for the better. Kindness is contagious. It draws people towards you and works like a smile.

Serve others. Share what you have. Use your time, talents and resources to serve others. Lift someone who is down. Give back and pay forward with not only your education, but also your kindness, your service, and your ability to make change because it will help those around you.

Be respectful. Use good manners always and be polite. Even if you don't agree with someone. Treating people with dignity and respect can change the world.

Be inclusive. Embrace diversity. Here at Salt Lake Community College that opportunity is in front of us Every. Single. Day. Let's work to create a future of inclusion for everyone. Ideas are not proprietary. They are inclusive. Everyone benefits from being inclusive.

Be patient and forgiving. Without patience and forgiveness, our relationships will not stand; they will wither.

Keep money in perspective. Use it to do good. Money does not define who you are. What you do with it defines who you are. So work hard but don't let having riches drive you or be your motivator.

Be grateful because gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. And it makes what we have so much greater and much more appreciated.

Be successful. Success begets success. Success has at least three important components. Number one: the depth of your relationship with a higher power. Number two: the quality of your relationship with others. And number three: your stewardship over the gifts and resources with which you have been blessed. Notice none of these includes having a lot of money."

She continued, "What you do with your life makes it meaningful. I know that when we operate from a place of love, it allows us to tap into our light and our truth it gives us a greater advantage in building relationships of trust and loyalty. When you open your heart, you find an energy that sustains you and gives you purpose. I would like to encourage the students who will attend this wonderful institution, and each of us here today, to lead with love. And then success will follow." 

The Miller family is a long-time supporter of SLCC. The family began sponsoring student scholarships in the 1980s. In the early 2000s, the Miller family donated the land and buildings for SLCC’s Miller Campus in Sandy. The Millers envisioned the campus as a place where anyone could pursue a business education regardless of ability to pay. Today, the Miller Campus is home to “The Mill,” a small business resource center offering education and training to local entrepreneurs, and SLCC’s Culinary Arts, Automotive, Public Safety and Professional Development programs. The Miller Campus also features extensive public conference facilities and a Veterans Business Resource Center. 

In addition to the Foundation’s financial support, Gail Miller has served the college as a member of the SLCC Board of Trustees, as chair from 2013-2017, and as Trustee Emeritus since 2017. Additionally, since 2013 she has been the title sponsor of the Gail Miller Leadership Cup, an annual golf tournament that raises scholarship dollars for SLCC students. SLCC awarded Gail an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in 2008. Note: the new building renderings pictured are not final and are subject to change before construction begins in two years.

With the Miller Family Foundation’s gift, SLCC will renovate and expand the current 50,000-square-foot business building to include a larger, high-tech auditorium, an large open atrium, kickstarter spaces for entrepreneurs, and upgraded learning environments. The renovation also includes improvements to SLCC’s Business Resource Instructional Center, which offers academic advising and IT assistance to more than 13,000 students annually. The renovation will add almost 19,000 square-feet to the building. It is scheduled to be completed in May of 2026.

Share this article
The link has been copied!