TCAT at Stanton opens as Tennessee’s newest technical college campus

Hundreds of West Tennesseans joined Gov. Bill Lee, Sen. Bill Hagerty, members of the Tennessee Board of Regents, TBR Chancellor Flora W. Tydings, and other state and local officials Friday, June 14, in opening Tennessee College of Applied Technology at Stanton, the state’s newest technical college campus.

TCAT at Stanton is an extension campus of Tennessee College of Applied Technology Jackson, part of the College System of Tennessee – the state’s community and technical colleges governed by the Tennessee Board of Regents.  The new campus is both a workforce training center for regional business and industry and an open-access institution for anyone interested in its career, technical and academic programs.

The $60 million, 120,000-square-feet facility was first announced by Gov. Lee in September 2021 to help train employees of manufacturers locating at the West Tennessee Megasite industrial complex and to serve any student interested in its offerings. Funding was approved by the Tennessee General Assembly, and construction began in December 2022. Construction was completed this month, three weeks ahead of schedule. The state-of-the-art facility is designed for flexibility and expansion to meet future needs.

West Tennessee residents filled the building’s large, soaring atrium to hear state and local officials speak about the impact the facility will have on the area. After their remarks, officials joined in cutting a ribbon across the main entrance to ceremonially open the campus. A corps of the Haywood High School Band played.

Speakers included Gov. Lee, Sen. Hagerty, Dr. Tydings, State Rep. Johnny Shaw, State Sen. Page Walley, Tennessee Economic and Community Development Commissioner Stuart C. McWhorter, and TCAT Jackson President Heath McMillian. Other state officials and legislators also participated.

“The opening of this beautiful educational facility represents so much of what my hope for the future of Tennessee is,” Gov. Lee said. “We should all be celebrating this in a major way and recognizing how important this is to the entire state. This is a model: you showed America what it looks like when we invest in the right things, when we consider the right things, when we set aside the things that don’t matter and we focus on the things that do.”

Dr. Tydings thanked the governor, legislators and other officials for their support for education, and current and former community leaders who have worked for 20 years on establishing and developing the Megasite.

“Long before this announcement in 2021, Governor Lee recognized the importance of public career and technical education. Earlier that same year, he and the General Assembly invested $79 million to eliminate a waiting list of more than 11,000 potential students wanting career and technical training,” the chancellor said.

“And last year, he proposed – and the legislature approved – the largest single capital investment in higher education in the history of our state – a $1 billion investment to fully fund the master plan for our TCATs across the state. That funding is paying for new construction and renovation projects that will expand and modernize our technical colleges, enabling us to serve more Tennesseans even more,” Dr. Tydings said.

The campus will welcome its first students with its first course offerings later this summer. The initial career and technical education programs include Automotive Technology, Electric Vehicle Production Technology, Industrial Maintenance Technology with Integrated Automation, Tool and Die Machining Technology, and Welding Technology.

In addition, Dyersburg State Community College will offer several general academic core courses at TCAT at Stanton that are foundational for higher education degrees – increasing access to higher education and supporting students’ academic ambitions in the region. Pending final approvals, initial DSCC courses at TCAT at Stanton this fall will include English Composition, Introduction to Music, Introduction to Statistics, Personal Finance, Orientation - Learning to Succeed, and more. More about the DSCC initiative is here: https://www.dscc.edu/dyersburg-state-expands-educational-opportunities-by-offering-classes-at-tcat-stanton-in-fall-2024/

Both institutions will expand programs at TCAT at Stanton as needed to meet workforce and general student demands.

TBR thanks its design and construction contractors and subcontractors The new campus was designed by archimania, a Memphis architecture and design firm. The general contractor was Montgomery Martin Contractors, Memphis, which led several subcontractors in building the campus.

FACT SHEET

• TCAT at Stanton is an extension campus of Tennessee College of Applied Technology Jackson
• Announced: September 2021
• Construction start: December 2022. Completed: June 2024
• Gross square feet: 120,000
• Cost of building and equipment: $60 million
• Architects: archimania, Memphis.
• Construction Contractor: Montgomery Martin Contractors, LLC, Memphis
• 12 stand-alone classrooms
• 6 classrooms attached to/supporting high-bay technology labs
• 4 high-bay technology labs (welding, machine tool technology, etc.)
• Large workforce training simulation space – a high-bay technology lab large enough to replicate several components of a manufacturing / industrial space.
• Meeting and multipurpose student areas, including a dedicated Veterans’ Services area.