SPRINGDALE -- Northwest Technical Institute should be ready to open its ammonia and refrigeration building by July and start classes in the fall, Jim Rollins told the school's Board of Directors on Thursday.
Construction of the building is complete, and crews from Multi-Craft Contractors are connecting utility service to the building, Rollins said. The ammonia laboratory and related systems also are being refurbished and set into place, he said.
"I think we've got a couple of rows of lights on down there," Rollins said.
Rollins is the president of the school dedicated to career and technical education.
The school in February 2020 broke ground on the 19,800-square-foot industrial building, which will house the ammonia laboratory.
The budget for all phases of construction was $2 million, but the final bill for the first phase put the cost at $1.2 million, leaving the school short of the money needed to complete the other phases, Rollins said.
The state Office of Skills Development has provided the school with a grant to pay the additional construction costs, he reported.
The school offers an 11-month diploma program in ammonia refrigeration technology, training students to qualify as entry-level technicians, said Ashley Simpson, director of secondary education for the school.
The program currently serves about 30 students a year, but the school hopes to see 100 with the expansion of the program, she said.
Northwest Technical also teaches an introduction to ammonia class, focusing on the operations and equipment related to the specialty, Simpson said.
Businesses often pay to send newly hired, entry-level employees through the program. Companies also will send technicians for daylong or weeklong training programs on different aspects of ammonia and refrigeration technology, she said.
The school currently works with entry-level technicians from Tyson Foods, Conagra Foods, General Mills and individual students not yet hired.
"We hope to see hundreds -- even thousands -- of students in these short-term classes," Simpson said.
"The students will come from the region, the state and even other states," Rollins said.
Rollins also reported that plans for a 50,000-square-foot nursing and medical technology education center have been reduced because of construction costs.
The board in September determined $15 million as the budget for construction of the facility, but construction costs have increased, Rollins said. The board suggested the construction be built in phases.
The school now plans a 45,000-square-foot facility on campus. A 30,000-square-foot area of the building will be completed and finished, while 15,000 square feet will be built as a shell for future completion, Rollins said.
He expects the design of the center to be completed by July, with construction to begin at the end of August. The timeline puts completion of the building in August 2024.
Northwest Technical and Northwest Arkansas Community College Washington County are slated to become centers of nursing and medical technology education as part of Upskill NWA, a program of the Excellerate Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation. Funding for these medical education programs comes from municipalities, state grants and philanthropic giving.
Northwest Technical has applied for state funds under the American Rescue Plan Act. The school's application currently sits with the Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review of the Joint Budget Committee of the Arkansas legislature, Rollins said.
The schools will provide training in various health care fields for students who lack resources, and students will agree to work two years for the local health care institutions that hire them, according to Jeff Webster, president and chief executive officer for Upskill. The institutions have agreed to hire Upskill graduates to fill the many positions that remain unfilled due to a shortage of qualified workers, Webster said.