Chattanooga State Community College faculty, students and local elected officials celebrated the opening of the school’s new advanced manufacturing center Friday.

The 45,000-square-foot building provides lab and classroom space for programs in the college’s branch of the Tennessee College of Applied Technology, and serves as the new home for the technical college’s student services center.

“The advanced manufacturing center is a testament to the important role that higher education plays in shaping the future,” Flora Tydings, chancellor of the Tennessee Board of Regents, said during the ceremony. “This facility is not just a building, it’s a beacon of innovation and progress. It represents our commitment to preparing a talented workforce that’s going to be equipped for the jobs of today and the jobs of the future.”

Here are five things to know about the new center.

CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY

The construction of the new center allowed the college to purchase new equipment that is more durable and better aligns with the industry standard.

The first floor includes an industrial shop area with training equipment and lab spaces, as well as a building frame built by construction career students that allows industrial electricity students to practice their wiring skills. The second floor includes lab space for medical assistance students to practice taking vitals or giving shots, computer labs and hands-on project spaces.

INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION AND ROBOTICS

The addition of a lab with programmable logic controllers, a type of ruggedized computer used for manufacturing, enables

Chattanooga State to start offering an industrial automation and robotics program. The new program builds on the existing industrial maintenance mechatronics program.

SUPPORTING LOCAL BUSINESSES

Students who graduate from the programs housed in the new center will become maintenance and automation technicians, electricians, nurses, medical assistants and computer support technicians.

“This isn’t just good for students, it’s good for our local businesses, too,” state Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, said during the ceremony. “They’ve been telling us for years, quite frankly, of the need for more skilled workers, and now this center is going to be answering that call. Graduates from these technical programs are going to have the skills our employers are looking for, helping our local economy to grow and be more competitive.”

“This isn’t just good for students, it’s good for our local businesses, too.”

— SEN. BO WATSON, R-HIXSON,

TALKING ABOUT CHATTANOOGA STATE’S

NEW ADVANCED MANUFACTURING CENTER

EXPANDING STUDENT ENROLLMENT

The advanced manufacturing center allows Chattanooga State to expand the capacity of several of its programs, providing more space to both those now housed in the new building and others that can take advantage of the rooms the programs were previously located in. The space allocated to some programs nearly doubled in size.

TIGER TECH

One of the biggest advantages of the new center, student John Jordan said, is that it gives students a space to run Tiger Tech, a service project that allows computer support technician students to practice their skills by repairing members of the college community’s technology.

“The ability to provide this service has empowered my fellow students and I to tackle complex issues and resolve them to the customer’s satisfaction,” he said during the ceremony. “This has been crucial to my growth as an individual, as well as my active participation in this program has greatly improved my confidence and self-esteem.”