PHIL CAMPBELL – Northwest-Shoals Community College took major strides on Thursday to adequately prepare Franklin County’s workforce with the official grand opening of the new Multi-Skilled Training Center at the college’s Phil Campbell campus.

NW-SCC President Dr. Humphrey Lee said the facility was a great addition to the college and something that would help current and future students after they graduate.

“I believe the community college is really a part of the community,” Lee said. “We don’t want to ask the students to come here and then say we’ll build a facility like this. We want to already have it here for them so they’re ready to start learning.”

The $1.2 million facility was constructed over a two-year time period with money from the college’s institutional funds. Funding for the advanced technology and equipment housed in the facility was made possible through a $335,000 Advanced Manufacturing Training Technology grant secured with assistance by Congressman Robert Aderholt in 2008.

“Everything we can do from the federal level to provide jobs and employment is important,” Aderholt said on Thursday. “This facility was imperative to meeting those goals.”

Mitch Mays, executive director of the Franklin County Development Authority, knows the importance of industry and the skilled workers who make up many of the industries right here in Franklin County.

“I have never seen a time when the skilled workforce is more important than it is right now,” Mays said. “Even with the economy the way it is, skilled workers can still find work, and this training center will help prepare them for those jobs.”

The training center features two classrooms, two faculty offices and an equipment and training area for welding and machine tool students like Vina native Brent Wooten, who is majoring in machine shop while he’s a student at NW-SCC.

“This is a great facility and most of the equipment is brand new,” said Wooten, who was busy working on a lathe machine during Thursday’s open house.

“We’re learning how to work on all types of machines you’d find in a machine shop, and that kind of experience helps you be competitive when you graduate.

“We spend 90 percent of our time out here in the shop making parts and that looks good on your resume when you start applying for jobs.”

Herbert Trulove, the director of the Franklin County Career Tech Center in Belgreen, said the new skill center at the college will be a valuable tool to continue the training that many students start learning at the high school level.

“In our area we have many students who choose not to attend a four-year college, and there must be an avenue to prepare these students just like we would prepare the ones who are going to a university,” Trulove said.

“We have some very talented students in our programs who excel at what they do and the trades they learn are important to many industries, especially the ones we already have here in the county.”

The Franklin County Career Tech Center offers welding, collision repair, power mechanics, building construction, business and health science programs that focus on preparing the county’s high school students for the workforce.

Trulove said businesses like G&G Steel in Russellville and Tiffin Motor Homes in Red Bay need machinists, welders and technicians. Students who want to apply for these kinds of jobs will have an advantage if they’ve had training in high school and further training in college.

“We need skilled workers, and this new center at the college will help these kids achieve their goals,” he said.