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Germanna Community College President Frank Turnage speaks to a crowd yesterday to mark the opening of the nearly $12 million Center for Advanced Technology in Culpeper.
Joseph Daniel, a Culpeper businessman and Germanna Community College Educational Foundation member, says 'The center will change people's lives for the better.' |
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."
Executive director of Culpeper's Chamber of Commerce, Norma Dunwoody, said she was specifically pleased with GCAT's flexible training space.
"It can accommodate anything from a specialized computer system to a large piece of equipment for onsite training," Dunwoody said.
With the opening of the $12 million center, Germanna is also extending its service to residents who live in its "western corridor" region. Germanna has two traditional campuses to the east--in Locust Grove and Massaponax.
GCAT Director Cynthia Siira was hired last May to prepare for the opening of the new center.
"It's a wonderful opportunity for Germanna to be right here in the community for residents of Madison, Orange and Culpeper counties to extend post-secondary options in the area both with work-force training and for people in the community."
The center wasn't possible without considerable community support and commitment, said Germanna Community College President Frank Turnage.
Of a total cost of $11.7 million, $8.8 million came from the state, with $2 million in local funds from Orange, Madison and Culpeper counties, and the town of Culpeper. An additional $900,000 came from private donations.
In addition, the town of Culpeper spent $1 million in upgrading its wastewater pumping and collection systems to support the center, Culpeper's Godfrey said. The town also contributed $250,000 in cash for the center's construction.
GCAT was built on 35 of 100 acres donated to the Germanna Educational Foundation by four different families--Rose Bente Lee, Kaye and Marie Andrus, Nicholos and Flora Tomassetti and Philip and Susan DeSiato.
Germanna may build a small business incubation center or a nonprofit conference center and hotel on the remaining 65 acres, Turnage said.
Any activities conducted on the site have to be linked to Germanna's educational mission and any revenue generated has to support the college, he added.
Germanna Community College offers 10 associate degrees and 21 certificate programs.
Joseph Daniel, an entrepreneur and member of the Germanna Community College Educational Foundation, is enthusiastic about GCAT's potential.
"This center will change people's lives for the better for generations to come."
To reach MELISSA NIX:
Email: mnix@freelancestar.com
