Northeast Community College’s newest academic building will not only create more room for the programs moving into the facility, it will allow for the reconfiguration of the programs’ existing buildings for entirely new functions.

Northeast’s $9.1 million, 66,613 square foot Applied Technology building on the north side of the Norfolk campus will house the Building Construction, Electrical Construction and Control, Electromechanical, Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC), and some classes for Wind Energy Technology and Diversified Manufacturing Technology programs. The programs are now housed in four separate buildings.

The new facility will include multipurpose classrooms, labs for hands-on-training and lab support areas including a fabrication/tool room. Labs will be large enough to allow for adequate space for equipment so students may work in a safe environment. The building will also include expanded storage areas, faculty offices and a student lounge/study area to serve over 200 students.

“Our technical programs have experienced a rapidly changing environment to meet industry demands for highly qualified, well trained employees,” said Dr. Michael Chipps, president of Northeast. “This state of the art facility positions Northeast to even better address pressing employee needs in welding, industrial manufacturing, electrical and construction service sectors. Additionally, the spaces vacated by these programs will address our growing programmatic needs. This movement of programs to new facilities is a catalyst for new programming opportunities and other critical campus needs.”

The five training programs in the new facility will have the ability to expand curriculum and offerings to include green energy technology that is used in the construction trades.

Lyle Kathol, dean of applied technology, said, “We are going to provide additional training opportunities, not only for students, but for workers in the region through Northeast’s Center for Enterprise. It’s about the students and our constituency in our 20 county service area.”