Sedalia, Missouri – Oct. 8, 2021 –The State Fair Community College Foundation recently received $300,000 from Nucor for its Stronger Workforce, Greater Community capital campaign that will help build the Olen Howard Workforce Innovation Center. This 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. Classes are scheduled to be held in the Howard Center in 2022.
Nucor is North America’s most diversified steel and steel products company. As stated on the company’s website, the company began in 1905 when Ransom E. Olds, creator of the Oldsmobile, formed REO Motor Company that evolved into the Nuclear Corporation of America that ultimately became Nucor. In the early 1960s, several tactical moves and new, visionary leadership not only transformed the company but also the steel industry.
Nucor is dedicated to defining and growing the future of steel through commercial excellence, innovation, customer service, and partnerships. In 2018, Nucor announced the construction of a rebar mill in Missouri, and that was how Nucor become part of the Sedalia community.
“When the need to grow the college’s capacity for technical education was identified, we were just learning about Nucor,” said Mary Treuner, SFCC Foundation executive director. “We are truly grateful for their kind gift, and we are very honored to have Nucor in our community.”
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.
