The Clarke County Development Corporation (CCDC), along with officials from SWCC, local and regional high schools, government officials, and more will be gathering in Eddy Saylor Business Park on Friday, March 8th to officially break ground on the new ORBIT Education and Training Center. With the new facility being south-central Iowa’s first dedicated to offering high-school and secondary skillset education advancement and facilitating tech education for local and regional manufactures continuing education opportunities, this groundbreaking event is expected to see a large and diverse turnout.
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Wayne Pantini, CEcD, Vice President of Economic Development at SWCC sent invitations to State-level representatives for the March 8th event, while CCDC Executive Director, Bill Trickey reached out to Senators Ernst and Grassley’s offices to extend an invitation. Trickey also contacted management at the area’s local manufactures, Hormel, Altec, Salford, Iowa Steel, and others to make sure representation of our local manufacturing base will be well established.
“This is an exciting step,” said Trickey. “The ORBIT Center will bring our manufacturers together to strengthen our base and further advance our focus into the future of business throughout south-central Iowa.”
The immediate mission of the ORBIT training center will be to supplement and grow educational programming normally made available at SWCC’s Creston, IA campus. That, along with new curriculum to meet the demand of businesses throughout the county, will make the center a draw for regional education programs, local manufacturers, and businesses across the state.
Eventually the development team looks to have day and evening courses in topics ranging from computer technology including programming and A.I., to culinary arts and brew master or distilling classes, as well as business management, communications, and hospitality training available at the center.
Click to open/view the event invitation PDF
With that, the Development Corporation and SWCC are hoping for the community to come join the celebration on March 8th.
GROUNDBREAKING EVENT DETAILS:
Day: Friday, March 8, 2024
Time: 10:00AM
Location: 2540 College Drive, Osceola, IA 50213
Once the ceremonial shovel has turned the dirt in the business park on the 8th, Brian Crawford, and Colleen Ladd from Denovo Construction Solutions, will bring their extensive experience in construction management to spearhead the build and management of the contractors for the project. The construction is expected to kick off in mid-March, as the weather permits, and go through the Spring and Summer, hopefully scheduling a grand opening date late in the Fall of 2024.