Workforce Development Center will be added at WSU-LC

CELINA - Wright State University– Lake Campus will bolster its training programs in business and advanced manufacturing through a new Workforce Development Center.

Lake Campus plans to expand its existing Business Enterprise Center into the Workforce Development Center, adding about 10,000 square feet of additional space to the campus.

The larger Workforce Development Center will allow Lake Campus to expand its advanced manufacturing and robotics programs and offer more credentials, certificates and apprenticeship opportunities.

“The expansion is going to allow us to offer more not-for-credit training than we currently have capacity to offer and allow us to more efficiently and more effectively help with the training of our degree-seeking engineering students,” said Dan Krane, Ph.D., interim dean of the Lake Campus.

The Workforce Development Center is expected to become fully operational in Fiscal Year 2024.

The expanded center and its additional programs will help the Lake Campus meet the workforce needs for skilled technical employees in West Central Ohio.

Advanced manufacturing makes up a substantial amount of the economy in Mercer, Auglaize, Darke and Shelby counties, which are at the core of the region that Lake Campus serves, Krane said. Growth in manufacturing industries in Mercer and Auglaize counties is projected to continue at an annual rate of 10% for at least the next 10 years.

The Workforce Development Center project is estimated to cost $3 million, half of which is funded by the State of Ohio capital budget. Lake Campus has received nearly $550,000 in donations from individuals, businesses and community organizations. The Wright State Board of Trustees approved $950,000 in university funds for the project.

Lake Campus also received an additional $500,000 in state capital funding to repurpose approximately 4,000 square feet in Trenary Hall into needed instructional space.