Ch-ch-changes
It’s been there since 1913, and it’s been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989, but the echo of footsteps throughout the building are reminders of empty indoor space. The sound is deafening.
Not for long.
Hopefully, by fall of next year, that sound will be replaced by the clacking of computer keyboards and voices of future computer coders and programmers with skills related to cryptocurrency and cybersecurity.
The former Rock Island-Argenta Depot now looks to the future.
It’s about to become a technology hub led by Shorter College. According to the paper, President Jerome Green said he expects it to play a critical role in revitalizing the East Broadway neighborhood that surrounds it.
The $1.8-million project, assisted by a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration, will include office space, a computer technology equipment center, and a credit union.
Computer courses available for certification “are specifically designed to give a person a recognized skill set in 21st-century skills, so that they are able to immediately go into the workforce and have something that they are certified to do,” said President Green.
He also said that everyone is welcome to take advantage of the programs that will be offered.
“We want the 4.0 people to come, but we want everybody else to come who has the ability to either achieve a college degree or obtain a certificate to be able to be a positive contributing citizen.”
An advisory board made up of local business leaders will assist the effort by providing real-world guidance on what skills are most desired in today’s workforce and in turn, the school will design curricula to address the needs.
Like Pulaski Tech’s real-world education that provides people with skills such as those necessary for participants to gain a commercial driver’s license or UCA’s Aviation Academy, Shorter is doing the same in the cyber realm.
Such efforts fill gaps where they exist in the U.S. economy. And are greatly appreciated by the people.