Mississippi Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant put Friday’s groundbreaking for Southwest Mississippi Community College’s $6 million Regional Work Force Training Center into perspective before the first shovel cut the dirt.
“We’re here to break the ground for dreams — for the future,” he said.
Bryant’s comment came as about 30 college and government officials and local business leaders gathered in a small auditorium on the second floor of the Horace Holmes Student Union on the SMCC campus for a brief program before the groundbreaking.
“A lot of those dreams — a lot of those futures — will begin here with this groundbreaking today,” Bryant said. “We should consider ourselves fortunate that we can be a part of it.”
He said 35 percent of the high school students across Mississippi are dropping out between the ninth and 12th grade. “What we’ve got to do is find those children and say, ‘Hold on, we’re going to bring in opportunity.’ ”
He said the Legislature recently passed a dual enrollment bill allowing high school students to simultaneously enroll at a community college to earn college credit and learn a skill while still in high school.
“Children can come to Southwest Mississippi Community College and learn to support themselves and their families,” he said.
“Students will be able to do that all across the state of Mississippi because we have all these work force development centers in our community colleges,” Bryant said.
“Community colleges do more with less than anyone I know,” he said.
Recalling his childhood, Bryant said, “I grew up in a blue collar world.”
He said his father was a diesel mechanic whose skill was well-known in his community.
“We took such pride in that,” he said. “We’ve got to get back to where skills are valued, they’re honored.”
He said attending Hinds County Community College allowed him to continue his education and graduate from college.
The Regional Work Force Training Center, he said, will allow area students to fulfill their dreams.
“Young men will now be able to support their families and provide for them what we all want for our children — a healthy, safe environment.”
The Regional Work Force Training Center will be built east of SMCC’s Huddleston Vo-Tech Building on the college’s campus.
It is funded by a $4.8 million Federal Economic Development Administration Grant, with $1.2 million in matching funds provided by $1million in state bonds, $100,000 from the Pike County Economic Development District and $100,000 from area business and industry.
When completed, the center will have nine classrooms, two computer labs, a conference hall and a conference room.
SMCC President Dr. Oliver Young said the center is the result of cooperation by a large number of public officials to make what was a dream several years ago become a reality.
“When I look back, I’m amazed at all the people involved who came together on this, and how the good Lord brought these people together to make it work,” Young said before Bryant’s remarks.
He credited the region’s legislative delegation, the state’s Congressional delegation, Pike County economic development officials and business leaders for their work in getting funding.
He also commended Dr. Eric Clark, executive director of the Mississippi State Board for Community and Junior Colleges, for his assistance on the project.
Young said Clark got the support of other state community college presidents for the $1.2 million state bond issue for the center.
“Every one of the community college presidents supported it,” Young said. “That was amazing, because that (bond issue) was money that could have gone to their schools.”
Clark called the Regional Work Force Training Center’s construction a great event for Southwest Mississippi and the state.
The center, he said, will provide educational opportunities not just for Southwest Mississippi and the rest of the state, but also for the southeastern United States.
“This will bring people from all over Mississippi and the South to Southwest Mississippi,” he said. “This will certainly put Mississippi on a national level.”
Kerry Allen, East Mississippi operations manager for Denbury Resources, said the center will help Denbury develop a work force of employees trained in several aspects of the oil industry.
“It is essential for Denbury to have our own trained force,” he said.
“This is a great opportunity for us to have our people trained in the different levels of work that is involved in the oil business. This training will go hand-in-hand with the experience they gain in the field,” Allen said.
Pike County Civil Defense Director Richard Coghlan said the center will provide a needed Homeland Security training center for Mississippi and the southeastern United States.
“Right now, there is only one (Homeland Security) training center east of the Mississippi (River), and that’s in Anniston, Ala.,” he said.
A local training site at SMCC, he said, “will pull people in from other areas of the United States, and save people money, because it’s easier and shorter for many people to come here than go to other sites in Nevada, New Mexico and Texas.”
