The leadership of Copiah-Lincoln Community College met recently with the Simpson County Board of Supervisors to discuss their plans for the Simpson County Center.
Co-Lin representatives present were the college’s new president, Dr. Jane Hulon, Dr. Ronnie Nettles and Dr. Duane Middleton. They were accompanied by Steven Ammann, Co-Lin board member from Simpson County.
Nettles told the board he was serving as executive vice president in 2004 when the discussion began about building the Co-Lin Center in Simpson County. He said the center was built in 2005 with a 15 year bond which the school refinanced and paid for early so there is not currently a debt on the facility.
He told the board that plans were in progress now to add 25,000 square feet to the existing facility at a cost of $5 million dollars. The existing facility is 36,000 square feet with three trailers in the rear for instruction which house a computer lab, science lab and the early childhood development programs.
Two additional programs will be implemented in the planned new space. One is Automation and Control and Industrial Maintenance. According to Dr. Middleton this program addition will afford students the opportunity to learn skills to work in a competitive job environment and reach a better wage scale. The other program is welding. There are more and more requirements for skilled and technical welding, Middleton said, and the new program will offer additional job opportunities for those students who may want to pursue welding as a career option.
Nettles said these programs would support from two to four additional staff positions.
The goal is to start construction this fall and be complete within one year. Dr. Nettles said, “This may be overly optimistic,” but he said he hopes construction would start soon.
While no official action was taken by the board at this meeting, the individual members expressed their support for the ongoing efforts and verbally committed to keeping the millage to support the facility. The college receives six mills from the county budget, which is the maximum millage. Three of the mills are required and the additional three go toward building programs.
