State Fair Community College is asking voters to pass a proposed $28 million bond measure in the April 4 Municipal Election that would finance the construction of a new technical education facility at the Sedalia campus.
The Building Strong Futures Campaign kicked off Tuesday evening at the Best Western State Fair Inn in Sedalia. SFCC officials and instructors were on hand to explain the necessities for a new technical education facility and were on hand to answer questions about the proposed bond measure.
“There is currently a workforce shortage in Missouri and we want to educate students to meet future needs in the workforce,” SFCC President Joanna Anderson said.
The bond would allow the college to expand technical education programs by building a new facility to keep up with student demand and industry’s demand for an increased technical workforce, which meets the needs of the region’s economy.
Anderson said the need for more technically-trained workers in Pettis and Benton counties is based on a campus master plan started three years ago, which determined that a new technical education facility is necessary.
The Fielding Technical Center at SFCC was built in 1978 and lacks adequate space and state-of-the-art equipment to expand current programs and start new ones.
Three of the center’s eight programs — Automotive Service Technology, Precision Machining, and Welding — would move to the proposed 116,000-square-foot facility.
New programs to be added to the proposed new technology center include diesel technology, agriculture mechanics and HVAC/advanced environmental systems. The potential enrollment increase is about 275 students by expanding current programs and adding new ones, according to SFCC.
SFCC Dean of Career and Technical Education and Workforce Innovation Mark Kelchner said the expansion of facilities is necessary because the facility is functioning beyond its intended capacity.
“Nobody in this room can argue that the key to success is people,” Kelchner said. “Economic development is people.”
He said advances in technology are causing costs to come down and such advances are developing “faster than we can keep up,” and the new facility and equipment this bond would provide will help the institution to train workers to meet those future needs.
“It’s not just about brawn and muscle, but brain power and critical thinking,” he said.
As an example, Kelchner said the demand for welding is already high and will increase 6 percent by 2024. He said there is limited lab space for students to train on welding equipment.
He said the college also has a limited number of CNC (Computer Numeric Control) tools, which are used in the automation of machine tools in industrial mechanics. The bond would allow the college to obtain more of these machines so students wouldn’t have to crowd around the machines and take turns as they do now. He said the demand for training on these machines will increase locally by 16 percent by 2024.
Former SFCC Board President Gary Noland is the chairman for the Building Strong Futures Committee. He affirmed that there is a strong need to expand SFCC’s technical education facilities because it results in a strong, well-paid workforce.
“The last thing we want to do is start programs that don’t provide good careers,” Noland said.
The current design of the proposed technology education center will consist of:
• 25 classrooms, 14 labs and 13 overhead doors
• A student resource center for studying and collaboration
• A makerspace fabrication lab
• Drive-in classrooms for the Automotive program
• Two multi-function lecture/lab classrooms for industrial maintenance
• Separate labs for welding fabrication, grinding and plasma cutting
• Lab space for advanced manufacturing and robotics classes
• Expandable meeting/conference room
• Glass walls for viewing the precision machining and advanced manufacturing lab
• Classroom for the Learning Force’s Commercial Driving Academy
The last time SFCC passed a bond measure or tax levy increase was in 1985, when voters approved a 15-cent tax levy increase, but it was immediately rolled back because of the Hancock Amendment. No bond measure presented has ever passed and the college’s tax levy rate is virtually the same as when the college district was formed in 1966.
Anderson said none of the college’s operational budget or reserve funds will be used to construct the new facility. Also, the bond would remain insulated from the state funding tax cuts imposed by Gov. Eric Greitens on Monday.
