(Madras ribbon cutting | Photo courtesy of COCC)
On April 30 of this year, COCC held a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially unveil their newest campus expansion in Madras. On 26 acres of land that was generously donated by the Bean Foundation, COCC has built a new, approximately 24,000 square foot building that houses four stand-alone health and education programs related to Nursing, Nursing Assisting, Medical Assisting and Early Childhood Education; the latter of which is offered in both English and Spanish.
The facility also includes science labs that will serve the new health programs, as well as other degree and certificate programs, along with an onsite childcare facility with a capacity of 100 spots. The childcare facility will integrate directly into the COCC students’ learning experience while providing jobs for a number of graduates.
Sitting down with COCC Madras Campus Director James Rodriguez, he said, “I have been so excited and honored to be a part of this with COCC, in giving back to our community through this expansion of programs designed to address the needs of Madras and Jefferson County. Providing this education close to home breaks down a large barrier that many students would otherwise face, and helps create a local workforce to help fill critical roles in the region.”
Looking at the numbers, the impact of this expansion will be a significant one, especially for a smaller community like Madras. According to COCC, the new Madras expansion will create 58 additional health career students, per year, who can earn credentials needed to enter the local workforce, 30 educators trained per year through the Early Childhood Education program, along with 80 additional staff and students at Madras High School who will benefit from on-site early learning college credits over the first four years following the expansion, and finally, 20 full-time jobs added by The Children’s Learning Center at the new on-site child care center.
By focusing on local education investment, COCC and the City of Madras hope to address the growing need for accessible career and technical education, creating a pipeline that will help provide students the ability to grow, learn and contribute in their own community.
All together, this expansion has come to fruition through a collaborative effort. Starting with the donation of the land, which was valued at around $1.5 million, additional investments to date have come from the U.S. Congress, the Oregon Legislature, COCC’s Real Estate Fund and private donors. The Madras campus expansion’s overall design and construction costs are estimated at $22 million, with up to 60% expected to come from federal, state and other public resources.
This effort was made possible through local partnerships with the Bean Foundation, Jefferson County, the Jefferson County School District 509J, St. Charles Health System, and The Children’s Learning Center.
