Commerce Secretary and former Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo announced this week that $1.7 million in federal money will go toward a new classroom facility off Highway 14 at the Richwood Valley campus of Ozarks Technical Community College.
Raimondo called it part of President Biden’s agenda for “Investing in America.” The federal funding will be matched with $3.1 million in local money.
"We’re calling this our ag-tricity building because it is going to house our agriculture and electrical distribution systems programs," says Mark Miller, an OTC spokesperson.
Miller says OTC students are already flocking to these programs. The agriculture program moved to Richwood Valley in 2019; by 2022, its count of students had already doubled.
“This 15,000-square-foot building will allow us to add four new classrooms, because even after just a few years, they are both busting at the seams," Miller says.
In a Commerce Department news release, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson hailed the project as one that will help “more Missourians earn a skill and secure a good-paying, high-demand job.”
