Construction begins following skilled trades groundbreaking ceremony

Southwestern Community College (SWCC) officials, construction professionals, community members, and government representatives were on-hand last Thursday, April 23, 2026, as the college broke ground on a new skilled trades facility to be constructed on the east side of Technical Center I on the Creston campus.

With the addition of this facility, the college will expand skilled trades programming with a two-fold process. First, the construction of this 15,040-square-foot facility will provide additional classroom and lab space for carpentry and building trades, electrical technology, and emergency management services (EMS) programs. The second phase of the project will be to renovate 9,500 square feet of space in the existing Technical Center I to establish a welding technology career academy, expand welding training opportunities, and provide additional classroom space for future programs.

The need for additional space on campus for SWCC's skilled trades programming emerged during the college's master facilities planning process. With approval of a $1 million Career Academy Incentive Fund grant through the Iowa Department of Education, the project quickly began moving forward in 2025.