Hundreds of people gathered at Southeast Community College in Lincoln on Thursday to get a look at the new 100,000 square-foot Welding Technology Center. Local and state officials joined school leaders in a ceremonial ribbon cutting ceremony for the largest community college welding training facility in the U.S.
“This facility is unlike anything I’ve seen across the country,” says Michael Krupnicki, past president of the American Welding Society. “Nebraska. if they’re not already on the map for welding education, will be as of today.”
The state-of-the-art facility will more than double the enrollment capacity of the program while establishing SCC as the premier destination for welding education. “One of the primary roles of community colleges in Nebraska is to produce a skilled workforce,” says Dr. Paul Illich, SCC president. “The new Welding Technology Center allows us to ensure everyone in our service area has access to the life-changing benefits of higher education.”
Illich believes the building is not only going to change the lives of students but is going to have an impact on industry partners and employers as they look for innovative ways to meet their needs. In the program’s previous space on the Lincoln campus, 84 individual welding booths allowed for instruction in the latest welding techniques and skills.
The new facility provides 196 booths, the most found in single building on any college campus in the nation. The new Welding Technology Center includes bays designed for semi-trucks to pull in and unload material. An overhead bridge crane inside the facility will provide safe operations for unloading material to be used at press brakes and metal forms.
“Welding is an essential skill and career for Nebraska and regional economies,” says Mark Hawkins, welding program chair and instructor. “Our local industry partners have relied on SCC to train and equip the skilled workforce they need, and now we’re equipped to more than double the training.”
In addition to the new facility, SCC offers welding training at The Career Academy on the Lincoln campus, through dual credit courses at multiple high schools in southeast Nebraska, and on the Milford and Beatrice campuses. In total, the college has more than 260 individual welding booths, more than any community college or training facility in the nation.
