Piqua’s UVCC latest of Ohio career tech schools to start major expansion

Students at the Upper Valley Career Center in Piqua take part in groundbreaking ceremonies Sept. 4 for the school's multimillion-dollar expansion and renovation project. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Students at the Upper Valley Career Center in Piqua take part in groundbreaking ceremonies Sept. 4 for the school's multimillion-dollar expansion and renovation project. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

PIQUA — The Upper Valley Career Center broke ground last week for an $18 million expansion designed to help meet the growing demand of students for career-tech programs.

The expansion will make the center approximately 20 percent larger and help reduce the wait list for programs, said Superintendent Jason Haak. To demonstrate the demand, he pointed to the current school year’s 900 applications and the ability to accept 655 students.

The project is part of the state’s Career Technical Construction Program. It will benefit several of UVCC’s programs, including the Medical Careers Academy, First Responders Academy, sports medicine program, construction technologies, electrical trades, robotics & automation, building maintenance, and manufacturing & machining technologies.

“Upper Valley Career Center continues to have a strong presence in our community with work-based learning. Our focus remains on meeting, educational and local workforce needs for our region,” Haak said. " The Career Center expansion project will help us address student interest in programs , while meeting local workforce needs.”

Multiple Dayton-area career tech centers are expanding to empty their wait lists and give more students training for in-demand jobs.

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Among the speakers at the groundbreaking was Lt. Gov. Jon Husted.

“The skills you are developing and learning are the skills employers in your area need,” he said. “They are in demand; in manufacturing, electrical, in construction, robotics and automation, in health sciences and certainly first responders.”

The UVCC expansion follows a $150 million expansion at the Miami Valley Career Technology Center in northwest Montgomery County, and the construction of a brand new Greene County Career Center.

The estimated completion for the Upper Valley construction project is October 2025, in time for the career center’s 50th anniversary.

The Upper Valley Career Center opened its doors in 1975 to students from Miami and Shelby counties as the Upper Valley Joint Vocational School. The JVS offered adults and high school students new opportunities through career and technical education.

Contact this contributing writer at nancykburr@aol.com

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