Utah lawmakers, along with industry, business and education leaders, received their first glimpse of Salt Lake Community College’s new 121,000-square-foot Westpointe Workforce Training & Education Center during a recent grand opening celebration.
Strategically located in Salt Lake City’s industrial northwest quadrant, Westpointe is integral to the Wasatch Front’s long-term economic vitality. The unique facility is designed to provide education and training in key industries that are critical to the region’s economic success, including welding, machining, diesel systems technology, injection molding, composites manufacturing, commercial driving and other high-demand fields. The center houses 8 classrooms, 34 lab spaces and a 3-acre lot for commercial truck driving, along with more than 100 welding bays, a large diesel maintenance facility and an injection molding lab.
Westpointe also allows SLCC to fulfill its mission as Salt Lake County’s primary post-secondary provider of workforce education and will serve a significant portion of SLCC’s 28,000 students enrolled in career and technical education (CTE) courses each year.
“At Westpointe, students will receive hands-on education and experience in a number of important trades. The campus will be a boon to students and to our region by allowing us to maintain our economic prosperity through the development of a top-notch workforce,” says Dr. Deneece Huftalin, president of SLCC.
Besides serving as a one-of-a-kind, one-stop educational center, Westpointe provides space for collaboration with industry partners, allowing students the opportunity to interface with Utah’s leading companies in the industrial trades. Many of these companies have partnered with SLCC and have generously supported the ongoing operations for the center. Read more….