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Architecture
Responding To Employer's Needs (West Palm Beach,
Florida)
"Forty percent of Palm Beach County businesses say their #1 challenge is
finding individuals with skills needed to make their businesses viable"
according to Dennis P. Gallon, President of Palm Beach Community
College. The new Education & Training Center for Workforce Development at Palm Beach Community College will help fulfill the area’s need for skilled workers. “Our core mission will always be to prepare students to make the transition to university, but we also need to begin to prepare students for the new work force generated by the new economy and e-commerce,” Dr. Gallon noted. “About 70% of people entering the work force for the first time during the next 10 to 15 years will not need a baccalaureate degree.
They’ll need more than high school, and this is the education our sector can provide,” Dr. Gallon added. “I’m certainly not advocating we won’t need doctors, lawyers and other professionals, but because of the global economy and the dot.com community, companies requiring technical talent are the most critical throughout our state. For every engineer required by corporate America, at least eight or nine technical support staff will be needed for that person. The new work force is really changing. That’s the reason we are offering training in Microsoft, Novell, Cisco and more. Many people with degrees are coming
back for this training to get jobs,” he noted.
John Schmiederer is Vice President of Workforce Development at Palm Beach Community College. Schmiederer, who has been at the college since 1968, assumed his current position in 1997-98 when legislative action allowed competition in training in Palm Beach County. “The directive initially came through business and industry,” Schmiederer said. “The two boards, school district and college, met in May of 1998 to establish a direction. It was determined adult courses would transition from high schools to the community college over a 3-year period, during which time the school district would continue to train students to get ready for the work force, and we would concentrate on training adults,” Schmiederer noted. “The first year, we identified the program to be initiated in our existing plant. In year two we brought across some health programs, rented space from the school district to run the programs and, as enrollment increased, we began planning for our own facility. In 2000 we got funding from the legislature.”
The experienced educational facility design firm of Schwab Twitty & Hanser Architectural Group, Inc. (STH) was commissioned to design the
Education & Training Center for Workforce Development at Palm Beach Community College. This signature facility will be located on the main campus at the prominent intersection of Lake Worth and Congress Avenues in Lake Worth, Florida. Valued at $28 million, the 150,000 square foot complex to be built in two phases will house Post Secondary Adult Vocational classrooms for Trade and Industrial, Health Occupations, as well as Public Service courses and General Education courses, for which the business community has been asked to contribute curriculum ideas.
The STH principals in charge of the project are President Bill Hanser and Vice President Michael Rossin; Ron Wiendl is the Design Architect. The architectural design of the facility integrates elements from existing campus structures, and is aesthetically exciting in recognition of its highly visible location. Internally, the design of this multifunctional complex must address myriad training needs, including plumbing, electrical, welding, automotive and medical, as well as computer related functions. Large computer labs will have computer-networking capabilities, including overhead video processing, supported by state-of-the-art cable infrastructure.
STH has finished schematic design and is also completing the land plan for the project. The ground breaking for the Center for Workforce Development is scheduled for late fall of this year. Center Director Schmiederer pointed out, “As the buildings are completed we can move over more programs. The Work Force Development Board has very good survey data, and we’re putting everything in place to effectively train people for the new workforce.”
This is the second building STH has designed for Palm Beach Community College. The firm also created the designs for the renovation and additions to the Duncan B. Watson Performing Arts Theater on campus. In addition to the Center for Workforce Development, other current STH school projects include
student housing and a Music Building for Palm Beach Atlantic College in West Palm Beach,
The Benjamin School in Palm Beach Gardens, and the
Center for Sports & Recreation at Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne.
Established in 1968, Schwab Twitty & Hanser Architectural Group, Inc. is an award-winning full service firm. Headquartered in Northbridge Centre in West Palm Beach, STH has projects throughout Florida and the Caribbean.
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