Higher Education
WCU Athletic Facility Improvement
Client
Frank L. Blum Construction Company, Inc.
Project Owner
Western Carolina University
Location
Cullowhee, North Carolina
Project Value
$66,400,000
Industry
Higher Education
Account Executive(s)
Tom Thomas, Trey Wilson
Services Provided
Presentation Coaching |
Presentation Development |
Proposal Development |
Higher Education
WCU Athletic Facility Improvement
Client
Frank L. Blum Construction Company, Inc.
Project Owner
Western Carolina University
Location
Cullowhee, North Carolina
Project Value
$66,400,000
Industry
Higher Education
Account Executive(s)
Tom Thomas, Trey Wilson
Services Provided
Presentation Coaching |
Presentation Development |
Proposal Development |
Project Overview
Western Carolina University undertook a $66.4 million athletic facilities improvement program on its Cullowhee, North Carolina campus, addressing years of deferred maintenance and critical programmatic gaps across three major venues. The project encompassed renovations to Whitmire Stadium, including a new Academic Suite, Chancellor's Suite, and Press Box constructed above the existing concessions facilities, along with the phased construction of a Football Operations Facility consolidating locker rooms, coaching offices, a student-athlete academic center, and an Athletics Hall of Fame. A new Field Sports Complex replaced a 1965 gymnasium no longer fit for purpose, creating a modern multi-sport home for soccer, track and field, and golf. PRESWERX supported the client through proposal development, presentation design, and presentation coaching.
Client Challenges
The client faced the challenge of presenting a complex, three-facility program as a coherent story for a sophisticated university owner:
Organizing a phased, $66.4 million scope spanning three distinct venues into a single, owner-facing narrative that WCU evaluators could follow without getting lost in phasing detail
Visualizing finished construction quality and completed spaces before any work had begun
Differentiating the team in a competitive higher education procurement where the owner and the needs were well known to multiple bidders
Preparing the client team for a structured university selection event with a knowledgeable, detail-oriented institutional committee
Each challenge called for precision: the owner was invested, the scope was complex, and the competition was capable.
Scope of Work
PRESWERX developed a complete pursuit package built around the distinct character of a three-venue university athletic program. The proposal organized a complex scope spanning Whitmire Stadium renovations, a two-phase Football Operations Facility, and a new Field Sports Complex into a clear, owner-facing narrative that reflected both the scale of the investment and the sensitivity of maintaining active athletics programs throughout construction. The presentation translated the program's phasing logic and finished-space quality into visuals suited to a university selection committee. PRESWERX also provided hands-on presentation coaching to prepare the client team for the live selection event and the questions they were likely to face.
PRESWERX Approach
PRESWERX built the pursuit strategy around how WCU would evaluate the team, not just how the client wanted to describe itself:
Organized a complex, three-facility proposal into a single narrative WCU evaluators could follow without losing track of phasing or scope
Created visuals communicating finished construction quality and the student-athlete experience across all three venues before any work had begun
Coached the team through selection-day delivery, sharpening responses and reinforcing differentiators under realistic pressure
The result was a client that entered the selection process with a polished, coordinated story and the confidence to deliver it.
Results Delivered
PRESWERX produced a complete pursuit package calibrated to a sophisticated public university owner:
The proposal turned a $66.4 million, three-facility scope into a clear narrative that made sequence, qualifications, and approach easy for WCU evaluators to assess
The presentation visuals gave the selection committee a concrete picture of finished spaces and the student-athlete experience before any construction had started
Presentation coaching prepared the team to deliver with precision under selection-day pressure, with rehearsed, confident responses to committee questions
The client entered the selection fully prepared, with a submission that matched the scale and significance of WCU's investment in its student-athletes.
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SUCCESS STORIES
Proven Results Across High-Stakes Pursuits
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