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Work begins on Tech Center
Germanna breaks ground on technology center in Culpeper, designed to train 21st-century work force
By DONNIE JOHNSTON
Date published: 6/3/2004
Virginia Gov. Mark Warner calls the money being spent to build the Germanna Community College Center for Advanced Technology "an investment in human capital."
At groundbreaking ceremonies yesterday afternoon, Warner said the $5.6 million Culpeper facility will help train the workers of tomorrow and enable young people to stay and make a living in the community where they grew up.
"To be competitive, you've got to have a world-class work force," the governor said. "This facility will train a work force geared for the 21st century."
He told the crowd of some 200 that although a high-school education is no longer enough to ensure "a ticket to a good life," about 65 percent of jobs in the next decade will not require a four-year college degree. Instead, Warner said, a two-year degree and industry-related certification could put many young people on the path to successful careers.
Connie Kincheloe, chair-elect of the State Board for Community Colleges and a driving force behind the technology center, praised Warner's support of education in general and the Culpeper project in particular.
"He has championed the success of our dream at every turn since February of 1999," she said.
At that time, the technology center idea was in its infancy. Warner, then a Northern Virginia businessman, came to Culpeper and encouraged a small group of project proponents to move ahead with their plans.
Kincheloe also noted that, due in large part to the governor's help, Germanna is the first of Virginia's 23 community colleges to break ground on a technology center. Money for the project will come from general-obligation bonds approved in a state referendum in November 2002.
Virginia Secretary of Education Belle S. Wheelan said the technology center will greatly benefit the Culpeper area and its people. The area has lost several of its major industrial employers in recent years.
"You are indeed on the cutting edge and will be doing what community colleges have for 100 years tried to do--give those who didn't think they could afford a college education that opportunity," she said.
On hand for the ceremonies were Rose Bente Lee, Kay and Marie Andrus, Nicolas and Flora Tomassetti and Phillip and Susan DeSiato. They donated the 100 acres between State Route 3 and U.S. 29 on the outskirts of the town of Culpeper, a gift valued at $1.6 million.
The donors were among several other dignitaries who joined the governor in digging a symbolic shovel full of dirt.
The initial part of the center will be on 34 acres that will be transferred to the state before actual construction begins in the next several weeks
The 39,000-square-foot facility will be built on two levels, and its curriculum will be designed to train students for jobs in area industries. The remaining 66 acres will be saved for future expansion.
Joe Daniel, a member of the Germanna Community College Educational Foundation Board, called yesterday's groundbreaking "just the beginning."
"In two years, we will be back here for the opening of the center," he said. "In five years, we'll be ready to build another building. And in 15 years, we will expand this into a campus."
To reach DONNIE JOHNSTON: DJohn40330@aol.com
Date published: 6/3/2004
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