Sedalia, Missouri – Sept. 17, 2021 –The State Fair Community College Foundation recently received $15,000 from Michael and Christy Otten of Lake of the Ozarks for its Stronger Workforce, Greater Community capital campaign to help build the Olen Howard Workforce Innovation Center. The new building on the Sedalia campus will expand the college’s capacity to meet the growing demand for technical workforce training and strengthen the communities it serves.
“We are very grateful to Michael and Christy Otten for their generous gift to the Olen Howard Workforce Innovation Center,” said Mary Treuner, SFCC Foundation executive director. “The foundation and college appreciate the Ottens for supporting our mission to provide relevant and responsive learning experiences that empower the students and communities we serve to prosper.”
The campaign, Stronger Workforce, Greater Community: A Capital Campaign for the Olen Howard Workforce Innovation Center and Center for Excellence was launched last year. The college broke ground on the new center in December 2020 on the site of SFCC’s original buildings, affectionately known as Plywood U. Information about the project and ongoing construction is available at www.sfccmo.edu/OHWIC.
The Olen Howard Workforce Innovation Center and the Fielding Center for Excellence will increase the college’s capacity to deliver workforce training by 200 percent and increase enrollment by at least 120 percent in career and technical areas. The new workforce training center will provide expanded lab and classroom spaces for training in welding and precision machining.
Renovations to Fielding Technical Center will provide a Center for Excellence for industrial technology, leadership and supervisory skills and logistics training; space for the new pre-apprenticeship program; and a climate, refrigeration and energy control (HVAC) lab and an advanced manufacturing and robotics lab.
