Nebraska community college opens new automotive career training center
Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen celebrated the opening of a new automotive career training center at Central Community College’s Hastings Campus earlier this week.
“This is a significant investment in Nebraska’s future, giving more students the opportunity to gain hands-on training, develop valuable skills, and build rewarding careers right here in our state,” Pillen said in a social media post.
The new Gosper Building will house automotive technology and autobody programs, according to a post made by Central Community College.
The $20 million, 42,000 square-foot building will replace the college’s old facility, which had limitations to industry training methods, local news station NTV says.
“The program over the last couple of years has been growing. Every single year we’ve had, we’ve seen more enrollment, higher enrollment. So we needed to expand our capacity for tools, equipment and instruction.” First Year Automotive Instructor Nick Kelley told NTV. “There’s an increased interest in automotive technology, cars are getting more technologically advanced so we need better training and more training. There’s still people that really like, really enjoy working on cars.”
The new building can hold 70 automotive students and 20 autobody students, the news station reports. The college offers certifications, diplomas and associate degrees in automotive technology, Auto body technology and other fields.
“I could not be more proud of what our community colleges do for workforce development and creating extraordinary careers – extraordinary careers that you can get developed, in some instances, certification in eight weeks,” NTV reports the Governor during the groundbreaking ceremony.
NTV previously reported that the facility will feature five new classrooms, a welding lab and capacity to work on electric vehicles and modern technology.
The U.S. economy is short roughly 140,000 skilled technicians a year, and the gap is widening, with 73,354 new collision repair entrant technicians needed by 2029, according to the TechForce Foundation’s new “Technician Supply, Demand & Opportunity Report.”
Across those 10 sectors, employers will need 241,842 new technicians per year through 2029, the report finds, compared with 101,743 students who graduated from technical schools and community colleges last year. TechForce found that the collision repair sector sees the highest turnover of the 10 analyzed at 60.7%.
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Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen cutting the ribbon for new automotive career training center at Central Community College’s Hastings Campus courtesy of the governor’s office.