Saline County Breaks Ground on Education Center

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Saline County officials and its partners broke ground on the new Saline County Career and Technical Center, which they expect to be completed in the fall of 2021.

Saline County marks beginning of new career and technical education center construction

Story and Photos by Holland doran

AAC Communications Coordinator

After more than five years of planning and collaboration among county officials, local and state leaders, educators and school districts, Saline County has marked the beginning of the construction of the Saline County Career and Technical Center.

A crowd of around 100 state and local dignitaries and guests gathered March 9 at the Benton Events Center for a groundbreaking ceremony for the center that is set to open in the fall of 2021.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Saline County Judge Jeff Arey, Saline County Economic Development Corporation (SCEDC) Executive Director Lamont Cornwell, SCEDC Chairman Shane Broadway, Arkansas State University System (ASU) President Dr. Chuck Welch, and ASU Three Rivers Chancellor Dr. Steve Rook spoke at the ceremony. Arkansas State Sen. Kim Hammer led the group in a prayer.

Gov. Hutchinson praised the leadership of the six Saline County school districts — Benton, Bryant, Bauxite, Harmony Grove, Glen Rose and Sheridan — for working together to support and fund the center.

“This is amazing that you can bring this kind of teamwork together,” he said. “Please understand how special this is because I have seen other similar career centers in other parts of the state in which high schools and colleges are competing against each other for it, or they plan on having multiple high schools participate in it, and it doesn’t work out that way. So this is very exciting to me what your leadership has accomplished.”

In the November 2019 general election, Saline County voters passed Issue 6, a temporary, county-wide three-eighths percent sales tax that will provide money for the center.

Arey expressed gratitude for the voters’ approval of funding.

“Certainly, the voters of Saline County are the first ones I want to talk about because if it was not for their vote of confidence in this project, then we would not be here,” he said.

Arey thanked the Benton, Bryant and Hot Springs Village chambers of commerce, which campaigned for the sales tax increase, and for Gov. Hutchinson’s support and guidance.

He also recognized the Saline County Quorum Court for seeing the center as a “worthwhile investment,” and thanked SCEDC for their encouragement to improve economic development in the county.

“That’s what really got us started on this … SCEDC saying what do we need to do to improve economic development in Saline County,” Arey said.

Cornwell used a football analogy to describe the teamwork among all entities: “You’ll notice that I didn’t call any names when I talked about who did what, when and where because it’s not about who did what, who did when and who did where,” Cornwell said. “We did this as a team. You hear that analogy that there’s no ‘I’ in team, that’s very true. But this team moved forward everybody in its own right, and we worked together as a

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team and we were successful.”

Broadway talked about the legacy of the center.

“Lives will be changed that enter this facility that are going to be walking through those doors seeking an education and a better way of life. It’s a legacy that we will all leave, those that are here today — a legacy that we will leave to the next generation to students whose lives and whose communities in Saline County will be changed because we all decided two years ago to make a dedication to the future of this county.”

Welch commended the team for their foresight in planning the center.

“Thank you for being out in front, being innovative,” Welch said. “We try to talk a lot about innovation in our system and this definitely meets that definition.”

He also praised the center model.

“If we could replicate this type of model throughout the state and throughout the country, we’d have a very different America, a very different Arkansas, and we’d have so many more opportunities for our students.”

Welch explained that receiving a higher education not only benefits the individual student, but also society.

“But truly it’s a societal benefit because for every individual that gets that degree, their family will be stronger, their community will be stronger, and indeed our entire state will be stronger,” he said.

Arkansas State University Three Rivers in Malvern will provide the staff and instruction at the center.

Rook said the school emphasized their strong commitment to educating the students in the school districts.

“We will do everything within our power to provide top training to students in this county so they can go and get those good jobs and be a productive part of Saline County,” Rook said.

Gov. Hutchinson said this center fits into Arkansas’ objective to create career learning centers that combine partnerships with industry that will “help direct the priority of training that goes into the career learning center.”

Hutchinson expressed his confidence that the center will succeed.

“I don’t think anybody is doing it better or will have more success than what you will have here in Saline County,” he said. “And that’s because you’re united, your schools are united, you’ve got the

See “CENTER” on Page 30 >>> Saline County Judge Jeff Arey thanks the Saline County voters for passing Issue 6.

The Saline County Career and Technical Center “fits into Arkansas’ objective” to combine learning with industry, Gov. Hutchinson tells guests.

Saline County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Lamont Cornwell praises the planning committee’s teamwork.

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CENTER

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Left: Arkansas State University System President Dr. Chuck Welch speaks. Right: Gov. Asa Hutchinson speaks to event attendees in the Benton Events Center.

Left: Arkansas State Rep. Lanny Fite chats with Saline County Judge Jeff Arey. Right: Saline County Economic Development Corporation Chairman Shane Broadway expresses his excitement about the future of the center.

support of an innovative four-year institution, Arkansas State University institution and Three Rivers College.”

Career and Technical

Center Background

The idea to build a career and technical school in Saline County started with a simple question.

“We were asking ourselves this question: ‘What does Saline County need to be doing in order to retain and grow existing businesses and recruit new business and industry in Saline County,” Judge Arey said.

This question prompted an economic development study led by a committee of local business representatives and representatives from the Detroit-based consulting firm Stantec. The study revealed that the county was lacking in workforce development, in particular the enhancement of the technical curriculum at the high school level.

This revelation led to another study regarding high school technical training in which over a 10-12-month period between 2015 and 2018, more than 180 businesses in Saline County and Central Arkansas were interviewed that revealed strengths and weaknesses in the county’s career and technical education opportunities.

“The big issue that we found was that our high school students did not have access to the programs of study that were needed by our business and industry in order to grow,” Arey said. “If we truly want to support local industry and have the ability to recruit new industry, then we need to fix the skills gap that is a real thing here in Saline County.”

More than half of Saline County’s workforce finds jobs outside the county. Arey and local leaders agreed that a career and technical education center could help keep that workforce in the county.

The school will offer 10 curriculum

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pathways: automotive technology; manufacturing and product development; welding and metal work; heating and air; health science and nursing; information technology; computer engineering; biomedicine; STEM engineering; and aviation.

“We want this curriculum to be flexible to meet the needs of business and industry, so these pathways could change over time if we need changes,” Arey said.

In the November 2019 general election, Saline County voters passed Issue 6, a temporary, county-wide three-eighths percent sales tax that will provide money for the center. The tax will eventually pay off the bonds for the center. Arey said projections show that the bonds would be paid off in 12 years or less. Through this process, the county is trying to raise $43 million.

Saline County’s six school districts — Benton, Bryant, Bauxite, Harmony Grove, Glen Rose and Sheridan — will collectively cover the day-to-day operating costs, including insurance, utility, maintenance, custodial needs and more.

The Arkansas State University Three Rivers college will provide staffing and teaching. Their funding will come through the Arkansas Department of Education and Department of Workforce Education.

The 112,000-square-foot facility is being constructed on approximately 22 acres of land at the corner of the Interstate 30 Service Road and Mountain View Road in Benton.

The center will encompass a uniquely planned two-story split-level scheme that accommodates the site topography and program needs. The facility will support approximately 1,400 high school students per day, along with provisions for community and adult education and training programs, according to the Stantec website.

The school will provide students an alternative option to learn skills that will set them on a path to a high paying career. They will earn college credit, which will allow them to get certificates to begin work while they’re at the center.

“Not every young person needs or wants to go to college,” Arey said. “Years ago, as a society we told our kids that if you want to be successful then you must have a four-year degree. And that is simply not true. There are many great careers out there that do not require a four-year degree. Jobs that pay really good money, we just need to show our young people what those opportunities are.”

Top, left: Around 100 people gather at the Benton Events Center for the Saline County Career and Technical Center groundbreaking ceremony. Above: Arkansas State University Three Rivers Chancellor Dr. Steve Rook says the college is committed to providing “top training” to students attending the center. Left: Arkansas State Sen. Kim Hammer prays before the ceremony.