WSC and the City of Wayne are working on a new partnership for the Center for Applied Technology, which starts construction this summer.

The facility will be built next to Gardner Hall and will help WSC expand its programs in industrial technology.

“The facility is being built to increase our ability to produce more industrial technology teachers as well as four-year-degreed students that support manufacturing in the state,” President Marysz Rames said.

The college is working with the city to see if there is any support for the project due to its economic impact. Out of these discussions the city is talking about pre-paying for some services from the college and the college using the money generated from those pre-paid services to support the Center for Applied Technology.

The pre-paid services could include things such as 12 credit hours a semester for the city to use to send employees to get extra training, as well as the city using the college’s buildings and rec program to support events and sports in community.

Rames said the center could be used by local schools as a career academy as well as by companies to train employees, thus providing economic growth to the city.

She explained that unlike the library and Bowen renovations, this project has the most potential to affect the city as well.

“This is just another opportunity to strengthen the partnership between us,” Rames said.

The partnership agreement was publicly discussed at the last City Council meeting April 18. The council showed support for the partnership but tabled a decision until its next meeting on May 2.