From the Ground Up: MHC Diesel Technician Training Center at OTC

Owner/developer: Ozarks Technical Community College
General contractor: Snyder Construction Group LLC
Architect: Paragon Architecture LLC
Engineers: Anderson Engineering Inc., civil; J&M Engineering LLC, structural; and Ross & Baruzzini Inc. (St. Louis), mechanical, electrical and plumbing
Size: 12,500 square feet
Estimated cost: $2 million
Lender: None
Estimated completion: January 2019
Project description: With an aim to increase its diesel technician graduates, OTC is adding on to its Industry and Transportation Technology Center on the east side of the Springfield campus. The project will add three truck bays and four classrooms with learning labs at the southwest corner of National Avenue and Central Street. “This expansion of the diesel program is in direct response to our industry partners’ need for more diesel technicians,” OTC Chancellor Hal Higdon said at the May groundbreaking. Officials expect diesel tech program graduates to increase by 20 students to 60 per year. The center is named after lead donor Murphy-Hoffman Co., with additional donors including SRC Holdings Corp., Commerce Bank, The Larson Group-Peterbilt and The Sunderland Foundation. Private donations totaling $1 million gave OTC access to a matching grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration. OTC instructors have been taking structural design students through the project to get status updates and hands-on learning from the contractors.