On Wednesday, September 25, Fox Valley Technical College will celebrate the completion of the new FVTC Construction Training Center (CTC) with a topping off ceremony.
The college broke ground on the unique $1.4 million outdoor training facility in September of 2023. The new facility allows students in the Construction Management Technology (CMT) associate degree program to fully construct and deconstruct a one-story, 1,000+ foot mock building each semester.
“We are developing project managers; the premise of the CTC is to introduce students to building products, site sequencing, logistics and installation methods,” says Rich Cass, department chair of Construction Management Technology. “When students are budgeting, scheduling and managing the work they will be better equipped to do so after building it themselves in a controlled, realistic environment.”
The CMT program has seen consistent growth since it launched in 2009 and has outgrown the indoor lab it uses at the S.J. Spanbauer Center in Oshkosh. The new CTC has enough room for 16 students to work together at one time at the job site.
The CTC was built on 2.6 acres of college-owned property on Waupun Road in Oshkosh. The site includes a 5,000-square-foot building to store reusable materials and equipment, a field office and site storage typically seen on a commercial construction site.
Graduates of this program continue to be in high demand in the workforce. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the construction management profession is projected to grow by 9% between 2023 and 2033, surpassing the national average. FVTC’s program boasts a 100% placement rate for students within six months of graduation.
The project was made possible, in part, due to generous donors who made in-kind contributions to the project. They include CR Meyer, Boldt, Omni Glass & Paint and Wells Concrete.
