One of the reason’s for Cullman County’s industry success has been the ability of Wallace State Community College to stay ahead of the curve for meeting the ever-changing needs of the community’s workforce demands. Several new facilities and programs announced over the last year have proven that WSCC has remained committed to that goal.
WSCC unveiled its new Workforce Training Center in November located right in the heart of the city of Cullman’s industrial park on the grounds of Rehau. The new training center will provide the same classes for phlebotomy, computer, fiber optics, manufacturing as well as some heavy equipment training, that had already been available through WSCC, only now they will be hosted in a single centralized location. Employers will also be able to contact the center with customized training requests and no-cost Skills for Success programs to meet their particular workforce needs.
The college also celebrated the grand opening of its $8.8 million Welding Technology and Innovation Center. The 30,000 square foot facility features new classroom space, seven robotic welding stations, 81 welding booths, nine chargeable welding simulators, 20 grinding booths, a fabrication area and a plasma CNC table.
In addition to the welding center, the facility will set aside space dedicated to housing six business incubators, which were predicted to create as many as 98 new jobs and bolster the area’s economy by $25 million through the next eight years.
During the welding center’s official opening, WSCC President Vicki Karolewics announced a nearly $50 million, multiple phase capital investment to build or renovate buildings which she said would “change the campus skyline.”
The most sizable new facility was a $35 million STEM Gateway Building partially funded by a $15 million supplemental Alabama legislative appropriation. Karolewics said the courses offered within the new facility will either be directly or indirectly related to STEM fields. The facility will house all mathematics, English, humanities, speech and culinary arts programs for the college’s first year students. It will also feature a digital learning center, restaurant and tutoring center.
A rendering highlighted how the STEM facility will replace six of the campus’s existing 1960’s-era buildings with the “one modern, efficient and aspirational learning complex,” according to Karolewics.
WSCC officials have declined to provide details as to which buildings are to be replaced by the STEM facility.
The project also includes a $4.2 million expansion of the college’s Machine Tool Technology building, which will place a larger focus on CNC and precision machining, and a new $9.6 million Automotive Technology facility centered around the industry’s shift to electric vehicles.
WSCC’s newest industry partner, Nissan North America, donated a Nissan Leaf which is the first fully electric vehicle available for student training. The Cullman Electric Cooperative along with the Tennessee Valley Authority also pledged $44,000 for the installation of two EV charging stations.