John Wood Community College celebrates Workforce Development Center expansion

May 30, 2024 | By Muddy River News

Cutting the ribbon for John Wood Community College’s Workforce Development Center expansion. L/R: JWCC Board of Trustees Chair Bob Rhea, Rotary Club of Quincy President Ricci Dula, JWCC President Dr. Bryan Renfro, Quincy Mayor Mike Troup, Adams County Board Chair Kent Snider, JWCC Trustee Larry Fischer, JWCC Dean of Career and Technical Education Dave Hetzler. — Submitted photo

QUINCY— John Wood Community College celebrated the ribbon cutting ceremony for its Workforce Development Center (WDC) expansion project on Wednesday at the WDC, located at 2710 North 42nd Street in Quincy.

The expansion added 14,170 square feet to JWCC’s WDC facility, including a new Truck Driver Training addition, expanded space for HVAC and business and industry training, and a remodel of the current interior to include expanded spaces for welding, mixed/virtual reality learning, industrial maintenance and manufacturing, robotics and automation, and flexible use-space for new programs. Additionally, a new vehicle entrance off 42nd Street and a larger parking area were added. A new computer-aided design lab was sponsored by Gardner Denver, and the community commons area was funded by the Rotary Club of Quincy.

The $6 million expansion was supported by a $3 million Federal Economic Adjustment Assistance Program grant awarded to JWCC in June 2021. College and private funding covered the remaining cost of the project. Klingner & Associates was the architect for the project and Maas Construction served as general contractor.

Speakers at the event included:

Dr. Bryan Renfro, JWCC President

David Hetzler, JWCC Dean of Career Technical Education

Kyle Moore, President of the Great River Economic Development Foundation

Jason Weber, Vice President of Engineering at Gardner Denver/IRCO

Chris Koetters, JWCC Truck Driver Training Instructor

Nick Weiman, Knapheide Manufacturing Engineer and JWCC alumnus

“This has been a collaboration among business, industry, and community leaders to leverage Federal dollars to ensure this region has a state-of-the-art training facility,” JWCC President Bryan Renfro said. “The expansion will help us build on our efforts to keep pace with the evolving technical skills needed to meet the region’s workforce needs. This means providing customized training to area businesses, upskilling existing workers, and continuing to build a pipeline of students to sustain and grow our region’s industries.”