Grainger donated $15,000 to NIU on Thursday, Jan. 17.

Grainger, based in Lake Forest, is a leading supplier of facility maintenance products. They donated the money to help in the creation of professional development opportunities for facility managers across the region.

The program that the donation is helping is known as the Certified Facility Manager Exam Review and Seminar Series. The program is being created through a partnership between NIU Outreach and the Chicago Chapter of Internation Facility Management Association.

The donation will be used to help market the program and to help offset the costs of textbooks and course materials to students.

The program will be divided into 11 sections that cover all aspects of facility management. Topics include:

-The Business of Facilities Management

-Finance

-Real Estate

-Planning and Project Management

-Operations and Maintenance

-Quality Assessment and Innovation

-Human and Environmental Factors

-Leadership and Management

-Communication

-Technology

NIU plans to start offering the class later this year.