MOHAVE COUNTY – Mohave Community College board members voted Friday in favor of the college hiring a construction manager to oversee the construction of the Advanced Manufacturing Training Center (AMTC).
The College will work with CORE Construction, Inc. to begin the process of building the AMTC, which will be a hub of workforce training that serves all of Mohave County.
The AMTC will be built at the Kingman Airport Industrial Park. The board previously approved offering the City of Kingman the assessed value of the land, $300,000, and the city recently agreed to sell the college the property for that amount.
The college is working with business and industry leaders to ensure courses at the future AMTC teach students skills that are in-demand in the regional workforce.
“When it comes to workforce training courses, the College is nimble and can quickly adapt to the needs of our communities,” said MCC President Dr. Stacy Klippenstein. “In partnership with business and industry leaders, as well as with agencies like AZ@Work, we’ll be creating AMTC courses that teach students the skills they need for careers now and in the future.”
College Dean of Career & Technical Education Jason Gee said students will continue to have hands-on training, as well as Virtual and Augmented Reality.
“This new technology won’t replace our valuable hands-on training, but it enhances our teaching,” said Gee. “The virtual world allows instructors to, for example, take students inside a machine or, in the health professions, inside a virtual human heart so students can see how it functions.”
The board also approved using a federal grant to purchase two computerized instructional nursing simulation mannequins, a SimMom and a SimBaby, for the college health programs.
“This cutting-edge equipment will help us teach students in all of our health programs, and it can also be used in our mobile labs so we can go to locations off campus and offer instruction,” said June Weiss, dean of college health professions, human services and public safety.
Board members also received an update on facilities projects for the current and upcoming year. The college is working to ensure all college facilities meet the needs of 21st century students, which includes adding more hi-tech classrooms that allow students to attend their classes from off campus locations via Zoom.
The board voted not to proceed with a Truth and Taxation hearing in May, which would have raised the college portion of local property taxes. This is the fourth year in a row the college has not raised the tax rate, based in part on population growth, increased property values and wise fiscal management.