More than 200 guests joined STLCC representatives, elected officials, industry partners and community leaders Aug. 29 to dedicate and tour the college's new Center for Workforce at 3344 Pershall Road.
"Fundamentally, we are here because we share a belief - that education is our common stake in the future," said Melissa Hattman, chair of the STLCC Board of Trustees. "This state-of-the-art facility reflects our vision for the future, and strengthens our institutional commitment to access, flexibility and responsiveness to the needs of our students and the community."
Located adjacent to the college's Florissant Valley campus, the 32,000-square-foot CWI will serve more than 500 students annually.
"Our Center for Workforce Innovation is another place where we serve students by providing access to new opportunities, helping them down the path to be better citizens for the future of Missouri," said Myrtle E.B. Dorsey, Ph.D., STLCC chancellor. "None of this would be possible without the ongoing support of our students, the public, our business and community partners, and our state and local legislators."
The CWI houses some of the college's newest and most cutting-edge workforce training programs, including several that were targeted in the Training for Tomorrow Initiative, as well as other innovative instructional spaces and a public access computing center.
"The establishment of the Center for Workforce Innovation is another solid step forward for this region," said Gov. Jay Nixon. "Repurposing a building of this nature, taking the various funding sources and putting them to work, merging education with business, merging education with the trades, and putting that all together in a place that is accessible and affordable during the day and at night for students is exactly the kind of work it will take to continue to turn this economy around."
STLCC received funding through the Missouri Department of Higher Education's Broadband Technology Opportunities program to develop the CWI's public access computing area. This center will have 25 stations that will be open to the public on a walk-in basis, and offer computer training classes to help prepare unemployed and underemployed workers develop skills needed for the 21st century work force.
Established in 1962, St. Louis Community College is the largest community college district in Missouri and one of the largest in the United States. STLCC has four campuses - Florissant Valley, Forest Park, Meramec and Wildwood - and annually serves nearly 90,000 students through credit courses, continuing education and workforce development programs. For more information about STLCC, visit www.stlcc.edu. |
