By Gerri Miller
Staff Writer- Elmore-Autauga News
Top Photo – Emilie Johnson is the new Director for the Elmore County Technical Center.
Dirt was turned today for the first phase of a $7 million project to expand and modernize the Elmore County Technical Center. State, county, local, school and community officials were on hand for the groundbreaking of what School Superintendent Richard Dennis said is the district’s top priority building project.
The first phase of the project will be construction of a 45,000-square-foot building. Technical Center Director Emilie Johnson said the building will include meeting rooms and classroom space for plumbing and fitting, medical sciences, welding, construction, public safety and law, electrical and aviation.
Johnson said the budget for the project was $7.5 billion, but the project costs have come under budget. The Technical Center project is part of a $50 million bond issue floated by the Elmore County Board of Education. The bond will cover multiple projects throughout the county, including a new Redland Middle School.
The new ECTC building will be completed and ready for students next fall. Johnson said Phase Two of the project will include renovation of the Center’s existing spaces and creating new programs that are tied into the needs of area industry.
Some existing programs are still spread out. Johnson said she would like to bring programs located at the old Wetumpka High School and Wetumpka Junior High School to the expanded main campus.
ECTC continues to grow at a rapid pace. Four years ago there were 350 students and by last year that number more than doubled to 800. Dennis said he was approached by businesses and industries who were interested in working with him and his staff because they needed workers.
“Auburn University approached us about working with them on an aviation program,” he said. “We are putting a lot of effort into these programs and you are going to continue to see them grow.”
A piece of airplane fuselage sits in the parking lot. Johnson said it was purchased for training students in the aviation classes. That is the kind of hands-on learning students have come to expect at ECTC. The school also offers a dual enrollment plan in conjunction with Central Alabama Community College.
Jimmy Hull, assistant state superintendent of education, career, and technical education/workforce development division, said he is hearing from industries throughout the state about the need for skilled workers. Hull worked with Elmore County Schools for 22 years and was director of ECTC before taking his new position this year.
“We saw something coming, we were hearing more and more from businesses and industry across all business and industry about shortages of workers,” he said.
“This is not a finished project,” Hull said. “This building will kick off some incredible things for our students. “Elmore County residents should be proud of the support they have received from the project on all levels. Not every county gets that kind of support,” he said.
Hull said workforce data is driving the programs that are offered and that the programs are feeding the need for skilled industry workers. Some Elmore County students are already filling some of these positions
Walter McKee of McKee & Associates is the architect for the project. He said ECTC students had a hand in the design of the building. He now has four employees who graduated from the program and can attest to its quality education.
The opportunity for such partnerships will grow in the future and Dennis said he wants to be ready.
“It’s not something that we can wait on, we’re going to have to move quickly,” Dennis said. “That is why this is our number one capital planning project in Elmore County.” See more photos from today’s groundbreaking ceremony below.
