Oct. 22, 2019 3:45p
(WGTD)---A Foxconn-fueled $5 milllion-plus expansion of the SC Johnson iMET Center in Sturtevant was formally dedicated Tuesday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony headlined by Gov. Evers.
The project expanded the center by over a-third, and an additional 12,000 square feet were remodeled to better serve current needs.
Gateway has dubbed iMET as "Southeast Wisconsin's hub for high-tech career training." Offered programs include engineering, advanced manufacturing, information technology, robotics and electronics.
"Technology is driving and changing the way we live, learn and work," said Evers. "We need to make sure that we're ready to change with it and I know this facility will help make that happen," he said.
Also speaking were Gateway President Bryan Albrecht, the Secretary of the state Dept. of Workforce Development, Caleb Frostman, Racine Unified Superintendent Eric Gallien and Richard Vincent, Chief Business Officer of Foxconn Industrial Internet. The event was moderated by Racine Area Manufacturers and Commerce President Matt Montemurro.
A good chunk of the project's cost was covered by a $5 million state grant that was issued as part of the Foxconn incentives package. But the project had many other partners, both inside and outside of government.
Gallien was part of the ceremony because students from the nearby REAL School---Racine Engineering, Arts and Leadership--spend part of their instructional day at iMET earning both high school and college credits.
Jordan Tuinstra is a REAL School junior who hopes to eventually land a job at Foxconn as a mechanical engineer. Upon graduation, Tuinstra says he hopes to quickly complete his Gateway Associate Degree, then either get hired at Foxconn or enroll in another school to roll his Gateway credits into a four-year degree.
He says the new classroom configuration at iMET which came about as a result of the expansion makes learning more conducive.
Several hundred people attended Tuesday's ceremony, including REAL School students. It was held amidst various machines in an expanded Tarnowski Hall, which opened just six years ago as part of the building's first addition.
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