Elgin Community College will start the first phase of construction next month on its $85 million Manufacturing and Technology Center — the second-largest of its kind in Illinois — that will help enhance programs in skilled manufacturing and address the nationwide labor shortage of skilled workers.
The center, on the northeastern portion of its campus, will more than triple the amount of lab and instructional space for manufacturing and tech programs at the college. Classes at the center are expected to start in the 2026 fall semester.
The two-story Manufacturing and Technology Center will span 150,000 square feet, according to ECC. Designed by Itasca-based DLA Architects, the building will have features such as solar panels to improve the building’s sustainability and provide hands-on learning for students in the renewable energy program. Glass walls will also break up the brick masonry to give passersby a look inside the manufacturing and technology spaces.
Another key feature of the building will be its atrium, said Kim Wagner, vice president of business and finance at Elgin Community College. The college envisions the open-air space being used not just by students, but employers who can come visit to share career opportunities.
Peggy Heinrich, who became interim president of the college in June, said around 2018, the college started to notice it needed to increase its capacity for classes geared toward skilled laborers such as manufacturing roles. At the time, its manufacturing programs had a waitlist, and in some labs, two classes would be taught simultaneously. The college also wasn’t able to keep up with the labor demands of local employers.
Peggy Heinrich, interim president of Elgin Community College, during the groundbreaking ceremony for its new center.
Mark Carriveau/Elgin Community College
“Our programs are all full and robust, and we have sort of an increasing demand for classes and also apprenticeships growing within those programs,” Heinrich said. “When we get the new building, we’re going to be able to add new programming, which is … key so that we can meet not only the additional heads [students] but also the additional areas of expertise where job shortages are being experienced.”
The new center will enable the college to expand its welding program by offering pipe welding. Welding, in particular, will need to add 330,000 professionals to its field by the end of 2028 to keep up with demand. There’s currently an estimated 771,000 welders in the field, according to the American Welding Society.
“We want to make sure that all of our employers and districts are reaching out, letting us know where the jobs of tomorrow are going to be, where they need skilled labor, so that we can design ourselves to meet their needs,” Heinrich said.
Other new and updated programs housed in the building will include industrial process control, mechatronics, renewable energy and robotics and automation.
Instructional space will also grow, with plans to move its trades programs from an existing 17,000 square feet building into a 59,000-square-foot space at the center. There will be 13 additional classrooms, nine large instructional labs and 11 medium-sized instructional labs.
The state is contributing $28.5 million toward the project. State Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, helped secure funding for the project in 2019, which has been re-appropriated in the budget every year since.
Moeller said she’s proud of the college and how it’s always been cutting-edge with its offerings. She predicts the center will have a ripple effect as the second-largest public community college manufacturing center in Illinois, attracting new investment and workers seeking affordable training.
“It’s good for economic development,” Moeller said. “It’s good for our local economy. It’s good for building community, and it’s going to be good for the companies who need workers.”