Lewis County Education Center Ribbon Cutting and Open House

Officials from Lewis County, Jefferson Community College, Jefferson-Lewis Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) and Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) of Lewis County invite community members to a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the formal opening of the Lewis County Jefferson Community College Education Center on Thursday, January 24 at 1:00 p.m., 7395 East Road, Lowville. Tours of the facility and exhibits by partners and local community organizations will be available through 7:00 p.m. following the ribbon cutting.

The opening of the 22,000 square foot facility is the culmination of three years of work between Jefferson Community College and Lewis County that began in 2015 when the Lewis County Board of Legislators earmarked funding for the construction of an education center. In January 2018, a memorandum of understanding between the College and Lewis County officials was signed designating Jefferson as operating of the education center with BOCES and Cornell Cooperative Extension-Lewis County subleasing space from the College and Lewis County, respectively. The County broke ground in September 2018 with general contractor DC Building Systems of Watertown along with AMP Electric and Lawman Heating and Plumbing working swiftly to keep the construction project on track for a January opening.

The single story education center includes five instructional classrooms, a 5500 sq. ft. fabrication lab (“fab lab”), 1400 sq. ft. mechatronics classroom, 1900 sq. ft. lab for BOCES forestry and engineering instruction, along with office, conference and administration space for Education Center partners. Cornell Cooperative Extension of Lewis County will move from its current location on Stowe Street to the new facility.

To start, Jefferson plans to offer a mix of non-college credit bearing classes in the areas of agribusiness, hospitality and tourism, and advanced manufacturing. Many non-credit offerings will be developed as micro-credentials with prior learning assessment built in for transferability to credit bearing courses. Beginning in February, both Jefferson and CCE will begin offering a variety of professional development and personal enrichment workshops, including many for youth. Participants can register now at www.sunyjefferson.edu/lewis and www.ccelewis.org. BOCES plans to begin on-site instruction in September. An advisory committee comprised of local community, business and education leaders has been appointed by the Lewis County Board of Legislators to assist with providing input regarding the workforce training and educational needs of the community.

For additional information about the ribbon cutting and open house, please contact Karen Freeman, Senior Director of Government Affairs and Public Relations at Jefferson Community College, kfreeman@sunyjefferson.edu,  315-777-9524.