RCTC Co-Located Workforce Center Groundbreaking
Sen. Carla Nelson was one of many local legislators and officials attending today’s groundbreaking ceremony of the Co-Located Workforce Center at the Heintz Center on the campus of the Rochester Community and Technical College (RCTC).
The ceremony marked a culmination of nearly a decade of hard work between campus officials, Workforce Development, Inc., a non-profit agency which helps both employers and employees develop skills needed in our highly technical society, and Rochester’s local delegation of legislators working at the capitol.
The 23,000 square-foot building, costing $8.7 million, will open in 2014, and will serve as a central location providing access for students, local residents looking for employment and training, prospective employers, and career counselors.
“A lot of times in life, you don’t always get to finish unfinished business,” Sen. Nelson said in her remarks. “And, this is a case of unfinished business.” Nelson first introduced the bill for the Workforce Center as a House member in 2004. In the ensuing years, others took up the cause. Nelson returned to the legislature as a senator in 2011. Once again, she reintroduced the bill as the lead Senate author, with Rep. Tina Liebling being the lead author in the House.
“This is an example of what’s right about government in Minnesota….of government efficiency, and government working together.” Sen. Nelson addressed the Workforce Center’s role in Minnesota’s economic recovery. “It’s necessary for jobs. Minnesota regained half of the jobs it lost in the Great Recession. This center will help us gain jobsbeyond that.”
Sen. Nelson extended her thanks to the many officials who combined their efforts to make the Workforce Center happen, in particular noting the hard work of RCTC President Don Supalla; Randy Johnson, the Executive Director of Workforce Development, Inc., in Rochester; Sen. Dave Senjem, who, as Chairman of the Capital Investment Committee in the Senate, helped see this project to fruition; and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).
