Enterprise State Community College equips 21st century workforce with new center

In late August, the Enterprise State Community College (ESCC) Student Center was packed with supporters, staff and students to celebrate the groundbreaking ceremony for the brand-new Workforce Development Center.

As a cornerstone of education, the new 27,000-square-foot facility will add tremendous value to the community, housing several job-specific and hands-on training opportunities. The facility will include mechatronics (advanced manufacturing), automotive and welding programs, as well as a flex lab space and an outdoor area for students to hone their craft. Students will also be provided with all the resources on site that they need to achieve success at the new center.

The facility provides a great opportunity to obtain real-life experience, featuring programming options in areas such as HVAC, plumbing and more. As these careers are in demand of skilled laborers, students will have more employment opportunity, with ESCC estimating roughly 200-300 students per year benefitting from the program.

“Everybody is facing workforce challenges. This facility will put skills in the hands of students,” noted Enterprise-native and Alabama Senator Katie Britt who attended the groundbreaking. “We are investing in our students our state and our community.” As a native of the “City of Progress,” Britt was glad to see ESCC make this step into the future.

Construction of the workforce development center is already underway and expected to be completed by late summer 2025.

GMC is providing architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, civil engineering, geotechnical engineering, electrical engineering, environmental, surveying, construction materials testing and construction administration services.

Project partners include Persons Services Corp and Southeast Construction as the general contractors; MW/Davis Dumas & Associates, Inc. as the mechanical, plumbing and fire protection engineer; Jackson, Renfro & Associates, Inc. as the electrical engineer; and Tucker-Jones Engineers Associated, P.C. as the structural engineer.

This project is just one of many that are part of a workforce initiative to address labor shortages by the Alabama Community College System (ACCS).