A ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony for the Industrial Technology Center will be held Friday at 10:30 a.m.

The 43,000-square-foot Industrial Technology Center is home to the Welding and Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) programs. The building, which opened the first day of spring 2013 classes, was specifically designed to mimic a real-world industrial setting. It’s also being billed a showplace by economic development prospects and local companies. The facility is OSHA compliant, complete with all of the necessary signage in areas where Personal Protective Equipment is required.

Existing equipment was refurbished and moved to the Center, and new equipment also was purchased, including a new $58,000 robot and a $78,000 manufacturing cell for the welding program, as well as all-new gas packs for the heating and air conditioning units in the HVAC program.

The facility includes an 11,000-square-foot welding laboratory with 48 welding booths and a 4,000 square foot fabrication area, a 6,000-square-foot HVAC lab, three classrooms, an open computer laboratory, seven offices, and a faculty work area. In addition, there is approximately 8,000 square feet of space available for future program development.

Located just four miles from the Pendleton Campus, the Industrial Technology Center’s Sandy Springs location will allow the College to keep the industry training programs centrally located in the service area, which is important to students who enroll from all three counties and for the local industries served by the College.

In August 2010, the College purchased and began refurbishing the vacant building, formerly the Virginia Tobacco Products facility, located at 5321 Highway 76 near Sandy Springs. The total cost of construction is now estimated at $4.4 MM.

The dedication ceremony will feature comments from Tri-County President Ronnie Booth; College Commission Chair W.H. (Ham) Hudson; Commissioner Helen Rosemond-Saunders and Doug Allen, acting dean of the Engineering and Industrial Technology Division. Local dignitaries will assist in cutting the ceremonial ribbon.

An open house will follow.