VUJC hosts Advanced Manufacturing and Technology Center groundbreaking Thursday
On a brisk Thursday morning about 100 or so gathered for what Dean Alan Johnson had promised would be an exciting groundbreaking. The catered event included hot coffee which was necessary as the cold wind whipped over the corn field that will become the VUJC Advance Manufacturing and Technology Center.
The Center will add more than 54,000 square feet of laboratory and classroom space for instruction in the latest technologies needed for workers to succeed in the modern workforce.
“This facility is about our future; not just the future of the campus, but of our community, region, state and the country,” said Alan Johnson, dean of the Jasper Campus. “The programming in this facility will be a key factor in retaining jobs and growing the regional economy.”
VU President Dick Helton thanked the community for its support of the long-awaited project, first approved by the legislature in 2007, and noted that state approval depended on local support. “We recognize the need for a qualified workforce and the ability to keep that workforce adequately trained so that it drives business and economic development for this community and region,” Helton said.
State Senator Lindell Hume, D-Princeton, and State Representative Mark Messmer, R-Jasper, also thanked local businesses and county and city governments for their financial backing for the facility. “This will be huge for the future economic development of our region,” Messmer said.
Hume agreed, noting that the facility will help workers compete with the best workers in the world. “This is the kind of training that we, as a community and a state, need to ensure that we are a vital part of the economy of the future,” Hume said.
“This community has been very supportive of this project,” Helton said. “This facility will be built on land donated by Masterbrand and we have been very appreciative of that. We had a gift from the Dubois County Council and Commissioners; we had a gift from the City of Jasper, a nice anonymous gift, and the longtime support of the VU Jasper Campus Foundation. I cannot begin to thank you enough. You have been a great supporter of the Vincennes University Jasper Campus.”
Ground breaking took a different twist at Thursday’s ceremony. Two children, a four-year-old daughter of a VUJC student and a seven-year-old son of a VUJC faculty member, broke ground using a toy truck and excavator.
“We thought it would be appropriate to have students of the future to help us break ground,” Johnson said. Following the children’s groundbreaking, several dignitaries, including President Helton, climbed aboard earthmoving equipment for large-scale ground breaking.
Once Johnson and President Helton were done breaking the ground the audience was invited to take a turn operating the equipment and do a little digging as well.
