Ranken Technical College is planning a $4.6 million job training facility just east of its main campus in north St. Louis where students will work for area manufacturers that partner with the school.
The 30,000-square-foot building will provide new space for the nonprofit technical school’s microenterprise programs, which Ranken President Stan Shoun described as “reverse apprenticeships†where area companies send work to Ranken that students perform.
Eight companies, including medical device maker bioMérieux Inc., Hunter Engineering and manufacturer Brewer Science, currently participate in the microenterprise program, Shoun said. And with the new training facility, he hopes to add six more companies to the program. Some have already expressed interest, he said.
“It’s come to a point where it’s gotten so good that we have to expand and put our own building in,†Shoun said.
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Ranken hopes to break ground on the facility this fall and open by next summer. It will be branded as MFG Inc.
Between 100 and 150 students could participate in the microenterprise programs, where they’re paid a part-time salary of between $8 and $12 an hour and receive college credit.
Students are already helping to design the center through apprenticeships at Fox Architects, Shoun said. And like always, students will use the construction project as an opportunity to learn the trades hands-on.
Once it’s built, companies that partner with Ranken send the equipment needed to make actual products or parts for their business. In exchange, students make what Shoun estimated was $4 million worth of products and services for partner companies, and that work often leads to internships or jobs for the students.
The microenterprise effort comes as to run modern machines and equipment. As the labor market nears full employment, some in the industry say before they’ve even finished with courses.
The new center will be one more place where businesses can begin training a future workforce. The building will have separate work cells set up for participating companies, as well as classrooms and other areas. A common work area will have shared equipment such as 3-D printers and other frequently used tools.
To build the center, Ranken will have to tear down three old industrial buildings at 4300, 4324 and 4321 Finney Street. It already owns the land as well as plenty of other real estate in the neighborhood just to the east of its campus off Page Boulevard.
The college has long-term plans there, too.
“Just like Cortex is to the tech industry, I’d like to be the same thing to the manufacturing industry,†Shoun said, referring to the complex of labs and offices in the Central West End. “We’d like to turn that whole block there into a manufacturing corridor.â€
He thinks Ranken can build more training and learning centers as well as attract private businesses looking to expand with a new shop or facility. There’s an available workforce ready to be taught right next door.
“I’m giving them 2,000 potential students that are trained and ready to work,†Shoun said.
The new campus is dependent on a $2.5 million grant from the federal Economic Development Administration, but Shoun said Ranken is “pretty confident about it.â€
Ranken is seeking $200,000 in local matching funds for the grant from St. Louis’ Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority, which voted to approve using some of its funds on Thursday.
“On the north side of town, this is really a great initiative there,†said Otis Williams, head of the St. Louis Development Corporation, which staffs the LCRA.
Ranken’s construction project is a bright spot in part of St. Louis that sees precious little investment. But it’s not the only project proposed in that area right now.
Just to the east of where Ranken wants to build its new center, another developer is proposing to build 38 homes for $8.8 million along and near Finney Street. Finney Place Developer LLC would buy the land from the city’s land bank and use low-income housing tax credits and Community Development Block Grant funds for the project, as well as private funds, according to the LCRA.
The LCRA board approved 15 years of tax abatement for the project Thursday.
Finney Place Developer lists Efficacy Consulting LLC as an owner, which is registered to Yaphett El-Amin. She is the executive director of minority contracting advocate MOKAN.
Williams noted there are three low-income housing projects in the area along the Martin Luther King Drive corridor. That, and Ranken’s work buying vacant lots and building new houses to give its students experience, has helped to reduce blight near the campus.
“This is sort of a rebirth for this neighborhood,†Williams said.
