Residents hope planned HCC center sparks local economy
Houston Community College will break ground May 26 on a new workforce center in Brays Oaks that neighbors hope will not only boost job skills for residents but stimulate the area economy and local partnerships.
“We’re going to do all we can to support it,” said Richard Rodriguez, director of services for the Brays Oaks Management District, which helped convince HCC officials to locate the campus within its boundaries in southwest Houston.
Rodriguez was among two dozen people attending a recent town hall meeting arranged by Houston City Councilman Larry Green to discuss details of the $12 million project, which is part of HCC’s 2012 bond program.
The groundbreaking will take place at 9:30 a.m. May 26 at the India House at 8888 W. Bellfort across from the campus site. Construction of the new building is expected to be complete in May 2016.
The two-story center will support a curriculum of short-term training to help students earn a GED, master English or enhance skills in HCC’s allied health or information technology programs. In addition to classroom and office space, the 27,000-squarefoot center will have lab and student lounge areas and counseling and conference rooms.
HCC facilities chief Chuck Smith described the new center as a gateway
to HCC’s newly conceived Centers of Excellence, a transformative strategy that better aligns the college’s regional campuses with regional demographic shifts and workforce needs.
“This campus, while a local tool of the community, is also part of a system,” Smith said. “We’re changing the way we operate. In the past, we were very localized and trying to offer everything to everyone. Now, with our Centers of Excellence, we can move students to more specialized programs depending on their needs.”
HCC’s vision, articulated by Chancellor Cesar Maldonado during his state-of-the-college address in April, will establish 16 Centers of Excellence in all, including public safety, global energy, logistics, material science, manufacturing, digital and information technologies, health sciences, consumer arts and sciences, construction, engineering, media arts and technology, business, transportation, maritime, aviation and robotics.
Haskel Harvey, dean of middle school students at nearby YES Prep, said he is eager for potential partnership opportunities with the new HCC campus.
“We try to leverage the community as much as possible to create opportunities for our students,” Harvey said.
Glenshire resident Sheri Cortez, who quizzed project architects about the drainage plan for the site, said neighbors “are super happy” about the new campus.
“This the first time we’ve had something this grand in the area,” she said. “I think it will be a tremendous help for local property values and can do a lot for the local economy.”
HCC officials are uncertain how many students will enroll at first. The center can accommodate about 230 students at a time and about 2,400 over a full day of classes. With full enrollment, it’s likely that local strip centers would see more business, they said. And better skills also lead to the better incomes.
“We’d love to see it get there,” Smith said.
“We acknowledge HCC is taking a risk here,” Rodriguez said. “This was not in the original bond package, but our executive director, David Hawes, gave an impassioned speech at one of their board meetings, and it actually moved the board to action.
“We’re an underserved community,” he continued, noting that the management district is home to about 98,000 residents and 100 apartment complexes. According to the management district’s data, more than 40 percent of the area’s residents are Hispanic and many are learning English for the first time. Also, about 26 percent of residents age 25 and older do not have a high school diploma.
“They knew we would be a good partner,” Rodriguez said of HCC. “There’s a lot of ways we can help market the school. We’ll pull out all the stops to make it a success.”