Gateway Technical College will host a groundbreaking ceremony today to celebrate the start of construction for the $6.5 million expansion of its SC Johnson Integrated Manufacturing and Engineering Technology Center in Sturtevant.
The 35,780-square-foot addition to the 61,000-square-foot iMET Center, 320 Renaissance Blvd., is aimed at accommodating the job training needs of Foxconn Technology Group and other area companies.
The center currently has capacity for around 700 students per semester. The building addition, which will include a new robotics manufacturing lab, student labs and six new classrooms, will add 1,000 students to the center’s capacity.
The project will also involve remodeling about 12,000 square feet of existing space in the center.
A state grant is funding $5 million of the project. Gateway is paying for the remaining $1.5 million of project costs.
Gov. Scott Walker and Alan Yeung, Foxconn director of U.S. strategic initiatives, are scheduled to speak at the groundbreaking ceremony.
Since fall 2017, Foxconn employees have been working out of the iMEt Center, which is located just miles north of Foxconn’s future massive manufacturing plant.
This fall, the college began enrolling students in two new degree programs, advanced manufacturing and supply chain management, which are designed to fill the pipeline of new jobs Foxconn and other companies are bringing to the region. The programs are being held at the iMET Center.
