This content was published: January 25, 2022. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
Live Stream: Portland Metropolitan Workforce Training Center redevelopment breaks ground
Photos and Story by sam.bennett
When it opens to the public in June 2023 the new Portland Metropolitan Workforce Training Center (PMWTC) will be PCC’s newest hub of opportunity.
The 50,000-square-foot facility, which received funding from the 2017 PCC bond measure, will combine classrooms, meeting rooms, open workspace as well as a community room and common areas – all housed in a cutting-edge mass timber and mass plywood community-based facility. The project features a landscaped plaza and an outdoor courtyard.
A groundbreaking celebration for the center’s redevelopment will be live streamed from the PMWTC site via YouTube.
Speakers include Mark Mitsui, PCC President; Mohamed Alyajouri, PCC Board Chair; Pam Hester, PCC Community Workforce Development Regional Director; and Linda Degman, PCC Planning & Capital Construction Director. The event will be emceed by Roberto Suarez, PCC Pathway Guidance manager.
The new facility replaces two outdated buildings from the 1950s and 1980s, giving community members a wide range of services and programs that will conveniently be under one roof.
Rendering by Bora Architecture & Interiors. View of the community room of the future PMWTC building.
This PCC workforce development center, which first opened its doors nearly a quarter century ago, works with community members who are receiving public assistance to gain skills needed for employment. The center’s employment and training programs help users develop and match their skills with family wage jobs.
PCC’s Regional Director Community Workforce Development Pam Hester said, “the new center will focus on reversing racial and economic disparities by connecting people to education and career track employment. Community members can participate in career exploration, coaching and skills development, and get wrap-around supports to help them reach their goals.”
The center will be a one-stop resource for community members seeking assistance from PCC, but also the state Department of Human Services, the Native American Youth & Family Center and the affordable housing program, Home Forward.
Working with Bora Architecture & Interiors, the college pursued a design for the workforce development center that meets ambitious sustainability goals through extensive energy modeling and the use of cross-laminated timber. The project is pursuing LEED Gold certification.
Extensive outreach throughout the design phase with community groups, neighbors, center staff and potential partners yielded a design that will usher-in a new era for providing users with essential tools they will need to compete in the employment market.
Redevelopment of this site also allows PCC to partner with Home Forward to offer affordable housing on college property. The college will maintain ownership of the land where Home Forward will develop, build and operate a housing project that will offer 84 affordable apartments.