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Center offers latest technology training Germanna's advanced technology center opens in Culpeper, classes to begin Aug. 21. Date published: 8/5/2006 By MELISSA NIX Just off U.S. 29, and around the corner from a rolling pasture dotted with round bales of hay, a brand-new brick and glass building rises up from the pastoral landscape.
The Germanna Center for Advanced Technology opened yesterday--bringing state of the art technology and educational opportunities to Culpeper. Area residents will now be able to satisfy that hankering to build a computer from scratch, master new skills for work, or make that final step towards an industry certification. GCAT, as the center is often called, is part of Germanna Community College, and will offer credit and noncredit classes beginning Aug. 21. Students can take "bread-and-butter classes" in the humanities or sciences that transfer to four-year schools, or noncredit classes toward vocational certifications, said John Donnelly, Germanna's dean of instruction. But GCAT sets itself apart from Germanna's other campuses with its primary focus--advancing the technological skills of the area's work force and meeting the technology needs of businesses. Each of its 14 classrooms is fully equipped so that the computer-to-student ratio is one to one. There are several conference rooms with video-conferencing technology and large touch-screen computers. A 700-seat conference center has multiple video projection screens and wireless Internet access throughout. The manufacturing technology lab can accommodate large industrial equipment for training purposes. And there are computers everywhere. The idea is to be "super-responsive to industry needs," Donnelly said. If a company decides its em- ployees need a business communications course to better deal with people on the phone, GCAT can design a curriculum to meet that need, he said. Culpeper Town Manager Brannon Godfrey agreed that GCAT's opening shows a commitment to economic development. "It will serve as a recruiting tool for new businesses and technology, while enabling existing businesses and industry to expand their work force," he said. Michael Shareck, vice president with Von Holtzbrinck Publishing Services, served on a citizen task force that looked at the possibility of Germanna opening such a high-tech center. He said the center will have an enormous impact. "GCAT will be able to provide targeted training for our employees," Shareck said. "And through GCAT and our educational assistance program, many of our employees will be able to improve their lot in life."
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