Credit: Bucks County Community College
A new $14 million training center will be constructed at Bucks County Com munity College’s Gene and Marlene Epstein Campus in Bristol Township.
The two-story, roughly 35,000-square-foot Bucks County Center for Economic and Workforce Development was formally announced Wednesday at a ceremony.
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The facility, which will be constructed in front of the existing campus, will allow the community college to work with partners in business, the Bucks County Industrial Development Authority, the Bucks County Workforce Development Board and county government to offer job and advanced manufacturing training at the campus off Veterans Highway (Route 413). The center will house current programs and allow space for new ones.
“Manufacturing one of the top three industries here in Bucks County. And by 2025, about 3,000 manufacturing jobs will be going unfilled,” said community college President Dr. Stephanie Shanblatt.
The new center is part of a countywide effort to increase workforce training and development. Recently, a federal grant was applied to the effort and Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick held a hearing on the “skills gap” in the area.
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In addition to its use by the community college, Shanblatt said the new building will hold offices for the Bucks County Workforce Development Board, Pennsylvania CareerLink Bucks County, and the county development office.
In May, the community college’s Trustees voted to move forward with the facility, which will be paid for through a mix of funding from the county, state, and federal governments. Firm DIGSAU was awarded $671,840 for the architect and engineering of the facility.
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Construction is not expected to start until next year with a targeted opening date of 2021.
