Three Rivers to begin Dexter pilot program

DEXTER, Mo. -- Three Rivers Community College will collaborate with the Stoddard County Learning Center beginning this fall, with a long-range plan of converting the Dexter facility into a feeder site that will serve to relieve congestion at the Poplar Bluff campus.

Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development management recently awarded Three Rivers $338,000 toward a workforce development and job skills training center, plus $157,598 to fund a green diesel training program, which will add a dimension to the diesel mechanics program currently offered at the center.

"The beautiful part about this is we're starting simple and minimizing risk by [offering] these stackable, noncredit pieces," said Dr. Devin Stephenson, Three Rivers president. "It's not wise to crank out a new associate degree program at this point, so you start with a seed concept and build sustainability."

Upon establishing a lease agreement, Three Rivers will share the 61,000-square-foot facility on Market Street with the Dexter Chamber of Commerce and an incubator for small businesses, which collectively takes up about half the available space.

The community college extension center will be completed in three phases, according to Stephenson. First the building will be retrofitted with administrative offices, a bookstore and a student lounge; next, a technical shop area; and finally, general education information technology classrooms and a computer laboratory.

The Stoddard County Development Foundation has made a contingent commitment to provide $100,000 over four years to supplement the build-out. The former learning center located on Northeast Main Street contains $250,000 worth of pneumatic and hydraulic trainers, diesel engine tools and test equipment, which will further reduce the start-up cost.

"It's a difficult economic time that we as a state are going through, but it's exciting to hear that they have secured some of the WIRED funding," said State Sen. Rob Mayer of Dexter. "We think this will be a nice fit for Three Rivers Community College, and certainly the City of Dexter and the eligible students here in Stoddard County and the surrounding region."

The community college center will initially target displaced workers and high school graduates looking to increase employable skills, according to the proposal. There will be an "element of exclusivity" in attending classes there, Stephenson explained, as the progressive field of health information technology will be taught, in addition to green technology.

"It's going to be important to build these types of programs, especially green technology education, to meet the demands in the changing economy," said Janet Witter, WIRED initiative manager. She noted that a recent 18-month study conducted by Memphis Bioworks Foundation, to which WIRED contributed $10,000, concluded that there will be 25,000 green jobs created in the Mississippi Delta over the next decade.

A year and a half ago, it was determined that there was still a need to be filled in providing post-secondary training for the area workforce when Julian Steiner took over as executive director of the Industrial Development Authority of Stoddard County, which has operated the learning center for several years.

"It soon became apparent that if we wanted the learning center to grow, we had to increase our course offerings, and Three Rivers is the perfect partner," Steiner said. "My dream is to not just see this become a satellite center, but a very relevant campus in Three Rivers' operation."

Just months after Three Rivers administration changed over last summer, Steiner and Janet Coleman, executive director of the Dexter Chamber, along with other stakeholders, engaged in preliminary negotiations with Stephenson and Dr. Wes Payne, Three Rivers vice president for learning.

"Both those gentlemen are very dynamic and very contagious, and their positive efforts rub off," Coleman said. "We think we can offer another opportunity for nontraditional students, who might not want to travel to the main campus in Poplar Bluff."

Behind Butler County, Stoddard has the second highest population of students that attend Three Rivers, according to recent census data. While the students currently pay out-of-district tuition rates, Stephenson said a referendum for including Stoddard County in the community college's taxing district may be promoted down the line.

"A group of leaders came together in solidarity, and there was such enthusiasm in the room -- not just 'Give me, give me,' but rather, 'You provide the service and we'll provide the leverage resources and in-kind matching,'" Stephenson explained. "They're not in our taxing district, but when you have a group that says, 'We'll invest,' along with federal money and city, county and the school system supporting our infrastructure, how could you lose?

"Providing community college access east along the Highway 60 corridor, I do believe, is the answer to helping us as we grow," the president said.