PHOTOS BY COURTNEY RYAN & BRENT G. MATHIS
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Clockwise from top left – Allen Couture, VP of operations, Raytheon Missiles & Defense; JTED Building; Bill Westcott, executive director of Potoff Private Philanthropy; Jim Click; the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Pima JTED Innovative Learning Center @ The Bridges, held in October; Kathy Prather, Superintendent/CEO, Pima JTED
Pima JTED Center Open for Business
$17.5 Million Career Center Welcomes Students By Tom Leyde They were once known as trade schools, places where high school students who didn’t plan to go to college could learn skills that could lead to stable jobs. These days they might be referred to as career schools where high school students can launch careers as chefs, firefighters, medical assistants or in manufacturing and work their way through college if they choose. Pima JTED (Joint Technical Education District) is that and more for students with the opening of a new facility. A ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house was held Oct. 8 at the new Pima JTED Innovative Learning Center @ The Bridges, 3300 S. Park Ave. City, county and state officials turned out for the event, which included tours 118 BizTucson
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Winter 2022
of the two-story, 50,000-square-foot building. Demonstrations were presented by students enrolled in Pima JTED classes. Culinary students served food prepared on site. Those in the 3D Animation & Game Design program gave visitors a chance to see their projects through Oculus virtual reality devices. Veterinary science students talked about their training. And robotics students flew drones. The Innovative Learning Center @ The Bridges, built by BFL Construction, was 16 years in the making. A property tax increase that voters passed overwhelmingly helped pay for the $17.5 million building. Ground was broken in May 2019. The private sector chipped in, too.
The Rotary Club of Tucson committed $250,000. Philanthropist Ross Potoff donated $1 million through Potoff Private Philanthropy. “I think that we are vastly underestimating the capabilities of our students and our ability to merge them into a career that is meaningful and substantial, to give them the opportunity to build a life that everybody dreams of in this country,” Bill Westcott, executive director of Potoff Private Philanthropy, said at the ribbon-cutting. Mark Irvin, president of Rotary Club of Tucson, said Pima JTED was one of several proposals presented to the club for funding. “We were blown away with what JTED had to say,” he said. “We thought it was an amazing presentation that they made. I think a lot of us had www.BizTucson.com
