College of the Canyons Opens Center

College of the Canyons has opened an interim advanced technology center.

Among the more than 100 attendees at the ribbon-cutting event earlier this month were members of the Santa Clarita Community College District board of trustees, as well as college staff, administrators and students.

College Chancellor Dianne G. Van Hook said that numbers were important to the center, but that relationships matter more.

“While COC stands out as a leader and driver of innovation and results, we didn’t do it alone,” Van Hook said at the event. “Our accomplishments are the direct result of the collaboration that grows out of the relationships we have with you, and that is particularly true for this facility.”

The facility will house simulation- and full production-type machining centers to prepare more than 300 students a year for industry-recognized credentials to demonstrate the necessary skills for workforce readiness as they work toward degrees.

In May, College of the Canyons contracted with Intertex Companies in Valencia for the purchase of a “build-to-suit” facility situated on nearly 4 acres of land on Valley Center Drive, near Soledad Canyon Road.

Intertex is expected to begin construction in the spring of next year on a 30,000-square-foot facility that will more than double the size of the interim advanced technology center, which spans 13,500 square feet.

Congressman Mike Garcia (R-Santa Clarita) called the technology center an important first step to creating skilled workers for the unfilled jobs in the aerospace industry in the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys.

“We have a national security issue that is being critically addressed here with the ATC,” Garcia said at the opening event, which took place on Oct. 6. “There are literally jobs looking for people rather than people looking for jobs in this industry, so this helps fills this gap” 

Earlier this year, the bicameral efforts of Garcia and Sen. Alex Padilla led to the successful securement of $1 million in community project funding for a robotics automation production lab and simulation center at the college.  

“We have to keep pace with China,” said Garcia. “It is humbling to think that our little town of Santa Clarita is such an instrumental piece of this defense.”

Among the lineup of speakers at the ribbon-cutting event were College Board of Trustees President Edel Alonso; Pat Hund; vice president, strike and special mission aircraft at Northrop Grumman Corp.; Joe Baldiga; national account manager for CNC education and workforce development with Fanuc America Corp., which is owned by Japan-based Fanuc Corp.; Omar Torres, College of the Canyons assistant superintendent/vice president of instruction; and Gary Horton, first vice chair of the College of the Canyons Foundation.