OTC breaks ground on $2M center

Ozarks Technical Community College officials broke ground yesterday on the school’s $2 million MHC Diesel Technician Training Center.

Named after a lead donation by Leawood, Kansas-based Murphy-Hoffman Co., the 12,500-square-foot project is scheduled for completion by fall 2019, according to a news release.

“This expansion of the diesel program is in direct response to our industry partners’ need for more diesel technicians. This expansion will improve OTC’s ability to meet the workforce needs of southwest Missouri,” OTC Chancellor Hal Higdon said in the release. “Diesel technicians are in high demand — and not just in the fields of trucking and engine repair. They are also heavily employed by the region’s robust remanufacturing industry.”

Other donors include SRC Holdings Corp., Commerce Bank, The Larson Group – Peterbilt and The Sunderland Foundation. Private donations to the tune of $1 million gave OTC access to a matching $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration.

The expansion to OTC’s current diesel training facility — within the Industry and Transportation Technology Center — will add three truck bays and four classrooms with learning labs near National Avenue, according to the release.

OTC expects to increase its number of diesel technician graduates by 50 percent with the expansion. The school currently graduates 40 diesel technicians per year.