Neil Matkin was named the Collin College president in March 2015 and has hit the ground running since.

“Collin College is renowned in both the state and nationally, so my goal when I first came here was to not mess up a good thing,” Matkin said. “But it became clear to me we needed more connections with the economic development of the region.”

Matkin said a new college position, vice president of workforce and economic development, was created to help bring in more partnerships to bring more workforce and training for students.

There are also plans to build a fourth campus in the southeast portion of Collin County near Wylie and Sachse, Matkin said.

“According to a demographer study we did [in 2015], that’s a region in the county we needed to be in,” he said.

In 2016, construction will begin on the college’s new Emergency Services Center in McKinney.