Southeastern Community College is awarded $1 million from the US Economic Development Administration to fund a new Industrial Technologies Trainer Center to be built on the College’s Keokuk campus .
The new facility will allow SCC to expand industrial training programs including focused, short-term training, specialized certifate training, and full-scale diploma and degree programs.
The projected $4.2 million facility will feature two spacious learning labs equipped with specialized training tools in robotics, hydraulics, pneumatics, electronics, CNC, PLC, pipe-fitting, HVAC and welding. The center will also house multipurpose computer labs with design and equipment maintenance software.
“With facilities like this, we can give students the chance to improve their lives and to help businesses train the skilled workers they need to be competitive. We want to give our region a highly skilled businesses to expand and new ones to set up shop.”
The new facility is just one slice of the college’s Building the Dream infrastructure expansion initiative. It includes the new Health Professions Center and Hall of Sciences on the West Burlington campus. With an estimated total project cost of $27 million, it is the largest, most comprehensive infrastructure investment undertaken by SCC since 1995.
Ash is excited to continue offering the Southeast Iowa Region a high quality education for an affordable price. “Thousands of families in the Great River Region rely on SCC to provide opportunities for a quality college education. The more options we can provide to these students, the more likely they will be to choose SCC and then make their home here afterward.” SCC officials worked with the Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission on the grant application, which was submitted last fall.
SCC officials will release a request for proposal for construction bids in the coming weeks. Contractors will have until December to submit bids, then college officials will review the proposals and offer their recommendation to their recommendation to the SCC Board of Trustees. Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2016.
