ROCKFORD (WREX) — Rockford Tom McNamara and State Representative Maurice West pen a letter to Rock Valley College’s Board of Trustees with one message: keep the advanced technology center inside Rockford.

The board of trustees will vote Thursday on where it will build its future ATC, choosing from three locations: the Chicago Rockford International Airport, the RVC Stenstrom Center next to Jefferson High School or the grounds of Belvidere High School in Belvidere.

In the letter, McNamara and West write, "Since its founding in 1852, Rockford has been the heart of our region. Today that continues, with Rockford the population center, advanced manufacturing and technology hub and the economic engine for northern Illinois. As the Rock Valley College staff and board of trustees work to choose from among three options where to locate its new Advanced Technology Center (ATC), we urge them to make the logical and equitable choice: Rockford."

McNamara and West say they are still disappointed in the board’s decision to not locate the ATC at either the Barber-Colman campus or the Register Star building. They also said Belvidere is "far outside of where the majority of its students reside."

"For far too long, many of our institutions have made decisions that are politically expedient but do not have the best interests of our entire region in mind, leading to disparities both in investment and opportunities for lower-income and minority residents in our region," the letter said. "We can strengthen Rockford’s legacy as a manufacturing and technology center for the next generation with an ATC that will provide continued benefits to all of northern Illinois."

13 WREX will be at Thursday’s board of trustees meeting to bring you the latest on air and online.