SIERRA VISTA — Cochise College will hold an open house next month to celebrate its new Automotive Technology Center.
The event is free and open to the public from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, March 13 at the building located at 645 S. Highway 92 in Sierra Vista. It will include tours, refreshments and a ribbon cutting ceremony.
The building, formerly Ideal Motors, was donated by Lawley Automotive in the fall and renovated in time for the start of spring classes in January. Thanks to the new building, the automotive program was able to add a daytime program to its established evening program to accommodate the growing number of students interested in enrolling.
“We’re happy and proud to be part of this,” said Sean Lawley. “It’s more important now than ever that these guys are trained. The reason I’m excited about Cochise College training them here in our own backyard is because, generally, when these students go to school somewhere else, they don’t come back. We’re hoping technicians they train will want to stay in town and work for one of our dealerships or another shop in town.”
Cochise College has offered automotive classes since 2005. Bruce Richardson, Dean of Business and Technology, said the new automotive building will help the college further its mission to serve the community and its students.
“This program is important to us because of the job opportunities,” Richardson said. “There are jobs for automotive technicians, and due to the demand from local businesses, it’s an opportunity for people to find a good career.”