SWCC, Clarke County plan expansion

Southwestern Community College announced last week it will be partnering with Clarke County Development Corporation to build a training center next to SWCC’s Osceola campus. SWCC President Marjorie McGuire-Welch said it will exist as lab space for area students who are enrolled in their Career Technical Education (CTE) programs.

“We are partnering with the Clarke County Development Corporation and they are building a training center right next to our Osceola center,” she said. “So they own the land next to us, so they are going to build a training center that will be large enough to encompass some very large programs, or programs, I should say, that take up a lot of space height-wise. So, they will have this as a training center that’s for the industry to meet industry needs.”

Industries in the area will also be able to take advantage of the space to train employees .

“They can do a lot of trainings themselves or we, (SWCC Vice President of Economic Development) Tom Lesan’s team, works through industry partners that we have over in the Osceola area to provide trainings to the different companies over there and if there’s a need for a particular lab space, that training center will be available if our training center isn’t available,” Welch said.

Higher enrollment in SWCC’s CTE programs is another factor that indicated the need for this additional lab space.

“The other way we are looking at it is, they are wonderful partners with us, so our Osceola center does have some limitations for CTE programs that we want to continue to expand into, working with the high schools and putting in career academy centers,” Welch said. “The CTE programs take a lot of lab space, so our Osceola center doesn’t have a lot of lab space available and so, their training center will be equipped to be able to provide a lot of lab space, so we will kind of share space with the Clarke County Development Corporation.”

Welch said SWCC will not invest financially into the new training center and funding will be sought by the Clarke County Development Corporation for SWCC and its other partners to take advantage.

“I should also point out that there is no investment on the part of the college financially into this training center,” she said. “So, Clarke County Development has some substantial funds, due to the casino, they have very good, very nice funding source and they are also pursuing a grant with EDA (Economic Development Administration,) so they’re working with SICOG (Southern Iowa Council of Governments) on writing a grant program proposal, so they are pursuing all the funding so we truly get to be a great partner that gets to take great advantage of all that they are going to do for the area.”

The SWCC Osceola campus is mainly a classroom-focused space that, while currently doesn’t fulfill the needs of CTE programs, will remain to complement the new training facility.

“A lot of our building is classroom space, so we can provide classroom space whether they need to use it for the opportunities they’re providing or we need to utilize it for whomever we’re working with and then the other building, the training center, will have a lot of lab space and the equipment in it for the lab needs,” Welch said.

Welch also said SWCC will be collaborating with high schools, Clarke County Development and industries in the area to satisfy the educational and employment needs of all parties involved.

“I see it as a win-win, so we can have area high schools involved, we can have area industries involved and Clarke County Development will have their needs met, the economic development programs that provide non-credit short-term trainings can also utilize either space, whether they want to utilize our existing Osceola center space, whether they need to utilize the Clarke County Development training center and we can use it for credit programs, whether it’s during the day, either whether it involves traditional-aged students that are taking classes and/or if it involves high school students taking classes,” she said.

The close proximity to SWCC’s Osceola center makes it convenient for area students to complete their regular arts and sciences coursework without any obstruction to their CTE labs.

“I see it as just really this incredible opportunity to really partner with what is the best for that area, quite frankly,” Welch said. “So not just Osceola, or Clarke school district, a lot of the area school districts there could take advantage of this opportunity to send their kids there. If they can make it work, that transportation isn’t going to be a major barrier, they can send their kids there to take classes, whether it’s taking the arts and science classes or it’s taking CTE program classes.”

The two buildings will present many possibilities, Welch said, including office space for the Clarke County Development Corporation.

“Clarke County Development, what they plan to do in terms of staffing it, since they will be two separate buildings, is that they will move their operation, their offices to this new building, so they will staff it themselves and they will be based there,” she said.

Welch also said the project began planning soon after she took over as SWCC’s president in July after a series of meetings in Osceola.

“I think I was just looking at my calendar and I think it was in maybe mid-July, I went over to Osceola, met (Executive Director of the Clark County Development Corporation) Bill Trickey for the first time...had a conversation with him, met with him...I think we had a meeting with some of the area industry people and what some of their needs are and Bill just started talking about the need for a training center and some additional training needs and it just started developing from that,” she said.

Trickey could not be reached for comment, but Welch said, “Bill knows how to go after what he sees that is the need and finds a way to make it work.”

There is no solid date on when the project will be completed, but Welch said the building could exist by spring 2022.

“I am just so amazed by the opportunity that has I feel has just fell in my lap, so I really give Bill Trickey all the credit for this, it’s his brainchild, I just got to come along for the ride and offer him a few suggestions,” she said. “I know that as soon that they can get the grant written and approved that they are hoping to break ground as soon as possible, so I was hoping to break ground hopefully before the end of the year.”