Wallace Community College cuts ribbon on West Alabama Training Center in Demopolis

Dignitaries dedicated the Wallace Community College West Alabama Training Center in Demopolis Wednesday.

“We’re not finished. We have a lot more to do,” WCC President Dr. James Mitchell said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. 

The new Training Center is in the former Demopolis National Guard Armory. Thanks to the Alabama Community College Board of Directors, WCC received $3.9 million to convert the facility. WCC already had an academic center in Demopolis, its second campus, which opened in 2019. WCC’s main campus is in Selma.

“This is going to be and will be a change agent for this entire part of the state of Alabama,” Alabama Community College System Chancellor Jimmy Baker said. “I’m just blessed to be in the role to have good people working with us.” 

He said the Alabama legislature did more in its last session than ever before for the community college system. He especially thanked the representatives and senators that come from the west Alabama region for their hard work in securing funding for the center.

In his remarks, Mitchell said the WCC Demopolis campus will provide full services for every student. At the end of September an accrediting agency will be inspecting the Demopolis campus in anticipation of it becoming fully accredited so that students can earn a degree from the Demopolis site.

Working with Whitfield Regional Hospital in Demopolis, the center will offer LPN, RN and patient care training. It will offer customized training for existing industries.

Mitchell said he expects the Demopolis campus will welcome some 1,500 students to meet the needs of Marengo and surrounding counties.

Sen. Robert Stewart of District 23, Rep. Prince Chestnut of District 67 and Rep. Curtis Travis of District 72 all stressed the need for community colleges to train and grow a strong workforce. Stewart, “a proud graduate” of WCC, said, “The Black Belt will be better because of this development. We need opportunities in every corner of this state.”

Chestnut said from the beginning of his time in the state legislature he has pushed for “workforce development and trying to find ways to connect the existing companies with employees.” Until recently, he continued, the emphasis has been on high school graduates continuing an academic career instead of pursuing hands-on skills. 

The Demopolis campus has been part of three community college systems. With WCC, “the third time’s the charm,” Travis said. Having the campus and training center in Demopolis is a way to “keep our people in our community” and to invest in the people of the Black Belt, he said. 

“You are an answer to our prayers,” Jo Ellen Martin told WCC administrators and staff. One of the three things prospective manufacturers look for is the need for a qualified workforce, she said. Not only does west Alabama have a labor force, it now has a place for continued training for those workers.

Dr. Blaine Hathcock, director of the WCC Demopolis campus, said getting the Training Center open had its challenges, but it is a “bold reflection” of WCC’s commitment to the Demopolis campus.

Demopolis Mayor Woody Collins said, “This will be one of the most exciting, fun campuses in the entire community college system.”

Several speakers referred to Chuck Smith, a former member of the Alabama Community College Board of Trustees, who stressed his vision for a campus in Demopolis some 30 years ago and was persistent in pursuing his goal. 

Hathcock said fall classes have begun in the academic building of the campus. Students are expected to begin training in the new center at the end of September.