The Lone Star College System continues to emphasize workforce training in Montgomery County with the expansion of the college system’s Conroe Center facility. LSCS representatives, students and local elected officials gathered Jan. 19 at the Conroe Center campus for a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the $6.4 million expansion of the campus’s workforce training facilities. The expansion includes advanced machining controllers, an automotive technology classroom and lab, 23 new welding booths and a plasma-cutting machine. The project was funded through the 2014 LSCS $485 million bond. LSCS Chancellor Stephen Head said the college heavily focuses on its workforce training programs to give additional options to students who do not plan to transfer into a four-year university after completing their LSCS program but instead opt to enter the skilled trade workforce. Careers in machining, welding and automotive technology offer median salaries between $34,816 to $43,970, according to LSCS. “The majority of our students are academic transfer students, but I think these workforce programs are equally important,” Head said. “These are good middle-class jobs. These jobs require more than a high school education; it is specialized training. To me, that is what community colleges are about—a balance between the academic [fields] and the workforce.” He said LSCS’ investment in workforce training programs benefits students who need specialized training to enter the careers of their choice. “We cannot produce enough welders, machinists or automotive technicians,” Head said. “We try to match our programming with community needs, but students also have to earn a livable wage. So we do everything we can to make sure we have the right programs.” LSC-Montgomery President Rebecca Riley said the college is focused on training students to enter industries that are locally in demand. The LSC-Conroe Center is located within one of Conroe’s largest employment sectors, the Conroe Park North industrial park, where about 2,500 local residents are employed. “The Conroe Center is located in the Conroe Park North industrial park, so our hope is to train people to enter the workforce specifically for the industries in our immediate vicinity; that is why we focus on welding and machining, for example,” Riley said.