Career Innovation Center

On July 7, the NDSCS Alumni Foundation along with the many donors, partners, alumni, and friends celebrated the groundbreaking of the Career Workforce Academy Project. This new facility (Opening Fall 2022) will be located at 4230 64th Ave. S. in Fargo, N.D. and will be named the Career Innovation Center (CIC). The NDSCS Alumni Foundation will own the CIC and lease it back to the College. Within the CIC, NDSCS will provide training and academic programming alongside four local school districts: Fargo Public Schools, West Fargo Public Schools, Central Cass School District and Northern Cass School District. This education and training center will provide a central location to facilitate Career Awareness events for elementary students, Career Identification and Preparation (including early-entry College classes) activities for middle and high school students, and training/learning spaces for NDSCS students and trainees.

“The CIC will be focused on helping students explore and understand various career paths in one centralized location.” – President John Richman

THE CONCEPT

The concept behind the CIC has been a proven model in various communities; these learning facilities/ concepts have proven to be effective with introducing students to various career paths – by matching their skill sets and interests to high-demand careers. By including incumbent workers, customized training, and new Americans – the CIC is projected to be able to help meet the critical workforce shortage in North Dakota

The Career Innovation Center will include academic programming and training related to:

• Construction • Information Technology • Health Sciences • Manufacturing and

Engineering • Business/Finance/

Entrepreneurship/Marketing • Arts and Communication • Transportation • Agriculture

and beyond. Through enhancing career awareness in high-demand fields, it is also slated to grow enrollment at both NDSCS locations.

CIC SUPPORT

To date the NDSCS Alumni Foundation has raised just over $11 million dollars from generous business, industry, and personal donations. Additionally, more than $9 million was obtained from public entities (e.g. federal grants, local governments).

HISTORY

NDSCS has had an academic and workforce training presence in Fargo since 1998. The ‘Skills and Technology Training Center’, now NDSCS-Fargo, was developed to meet the emerging workforce training needs for the greater Fargo region. The 56,433 sq. ft. building (which was formally a K-Mart) is currently owned by the NDSCS Alumni Foundation and is leased back to the College – this location will be sold after the Career Innovation Center opens. NDSCS-Fargo has evolved through the years, responding to business and industry needs and learner requests through providing workforce/customized training, offering six academic programs, new American programming, and the collaborative Pathway program with NDSU. Additionally, since opening, NDSCS-Fargo has served various secondary schools through providing dual-credit and high school career and technical education classes.

MORE INFORMATION

To see CIC facility renderings, experience a virtual ‘walk-through’, or to find out more about the donors, visit NDSCS.edu/Groundbreaking.