OTC ready to break ground for $40M manufacturing center

Dirt work is about to commence for Ozarks Technical Community College’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing.  

The college is set to break ground on campus Thursday for the roughly $40 million project, aka CAM, on the northwest corner of National Avenue and Chestnut Expressway. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is among state and school officials expected to attend the ceremony, which is closed to the public due to COVID-19 concerns. It will be livestreamed on the college’s Facebook page.  

The OTC Board of Trustees awarded Columbus, Kansas-based Crossland Construction Co. Inc. the contract to build the center. Crossland was selected among nine bidders, according to OTC spokesperson Mark Miller. Dake Wells Architecture Inc. and its national partner, Minneapolis-based Perkins & Will Inc., are the project architects.  

Voters in April 2018 approved an additional property tax levy of 5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to help pay for the center, which is set to open in 2022. Additionally, the state has contributed nearly $5 million through a MoExcels Workforce Initiative grant, Miller said.  

St. Louis-based international manufacturer Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR) donated $500,000 to OTC over the summer as the first gift in a $10 million capital campaign conducted by the OTC Foundation for the center. It remains the only private donation to date, Miller said. The CAM will house the Emerson Innovation Discovery Lab to introduce students to advanced manufacturing processes, according to school officials.  

Parson, who was elected by voters last week to remain governor, also was on OTC’s campus in March for a ribbon-cutting ceremony of the school’s new Allied Health Student Success Center. The 1,500-square-foot center, located in repurposed space within Lincoln Hall, was funded entirely by a $180,000 MoExcels grant, according to past reporting.