Page 34 - College Planning & Management, October 2018

Facility Focus
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT/VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
Northwest State Community College
Advanced Manufacturing Training Center
THE ADVANCED Manufactur- ing Training Center at North- west State Community College (NSCC) in Archbold, OH, was created in response to the demand for training new job candidates for several manufacturers in northwest Ohio, as well as retooling and teaching new career opportunities for area adults and students. This state-of-the-art training facility supports workforce train- ing programs designed to meets the needs of the many businesses throughout the re- gion that are looking for skilled employees. Programs include cybersecurity, HVAC-R climate control, industrial electrical, machining, millwright, truck driving, and welding, just to name a few.
The project consisted of the interior renovation and reconfiguration of 16,000
square feet of occupied space on two exist- ing floors for the new Workforce Develop- ment program. A new 16,000-square-foot academic and engineering laboratory addition for the School of Engineering
was also designed and connects to the existing building. Upgrades included new classrooms, department offices, conference rooms, student collaboration and lounge areas, computer laboratories, a plastics laboratory, and engineering and distance learning laboratories, as well as a large 10,000-square-foot workforce training and robotics laboratory.
The design incorporates finishes that are low-maintenance into high-tech learning environments that are flexible, welcoming, and user-friendly, all while meeting tomor- row’s industry standards and promoting
recruiting and retaining. Flexibility of physical spaces and technology was of huge importance, allowing different programs
to utilize the space using different settings and layouts. For example, in all of the labs, the utility connections are plug-and-play, allowing for easy reconfiguration. All can be reconfigured with the addition of new equipment by the college or if outside com- panies utilizing the space bring in their own equipment for training purposes.
SSOE Group’s design team was selected to assist NSCC with this project because of their ability and expertise performing all design services in-house—including architecture, interior design, structure, MEP, security, access control, fire protection, civil, landscaping, A/V, and technology/IT. CPM
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