FSCC acquires new facilty for construction trades classes

This 30,000 square-foot building in Pittsburg will soon house FSCC construction trades classes. Submitted photo

FSCC's new Construction Trades Program will soon have a new facility to occupy. The Construction Trades Program, which began at FSCC this fall after the award of a nearly $2 million grant from the Labor Department in the spring of 2008, teaches students many different trades that coincide with the construction trades field. The program held classes this fall in Bourbon and Crawford County schools.

Starting in January the program will expand into a new facility in Pittsburg. The building is 30,000 square feet and is owned by Vinylplex. The building was built two years ago and has never been used. It has a large warehouse that the program will use for lab and classroom spaces. The Frontenac Rotary Club played an instrumental role when it provided the opportunity for Chris Sterrett the director of the Construction Trades Program to give a presentation at its October luncheon. Bill Coleman, President of Vinylplex was in attendance and met with Sterrett after the meeting at which time he offered the building for the Construction Trades Program to use as long as it was not needed for his company. Sterrett commented that he is "very excited to see this level of community support for providing craft training to students. With this kind of community support we can build a sustainable program that can meet the growing demand for local workforce development."

Construction Trades will hold their Masonry classes in the new building at the beginning of the spring semester. The attainment of the new building will allow the program to open classes to all area high schools and offer classes beyond space currently available at these schools. Because of the programs expected popularity and growth, this new building will be the core outreach in Crawford County of the Construction Trades Program. Space in the building can also be available to area high schools to expand and teach their own construction trades classes. The bulk of the Construction Trades Program will take place in Bourbon County facilities with expansion this spring into Uniontown.

For more information, contact Chris Sterrett at (620) 223-2700.