Apr 28, 2022

Ground broken and construction started on North Central Missouri College Savannah campus

Posted Apr 28, 2022 12:00 PM
(L to R): NCMC Director of Facilities Randy Young, NCMC Vice President of Business and Finance Tyson Otto, NCMC Foundation Board President Allan Seidel, NCMC Trustee, and Foundation board member Chris Hoffman, NCMC President Dr. Lenny Klaver, Savannah City Attorney Emily Bauman, Ellison Auxier Architects Jeremy Proctor, EL Crawford Project Manager Eric Moore, Savannah Chamber Director Mary Ingersoll, and Senior Vice President of Wells Bank and Co-Chair of the NCMC Foundation campaign executive committee Mike Gallagher./ Photo provided by North Central Missouri College
(L to R): NCMC Director of Facilities Randy Young, NCMC Vice President of Business and Finance Tyson Otto, NCMC Foundation Board President Allan Seidel, NCMC Trustee, and Foundation board member Chris Hoffman, NCMC President Dr. Lenny Klaver, Savannah City Attorney Emily Bauman, Ellison Auxier Architects Jeremy Proctor, EL Crawford Project Manager Eric Moore, Savannah Chamber Director Mary Ingersoll, and Senior Vice President of Wells Bank and Co-Chair of the NCMC Foundation campaign executive committee Mike Gallagher./ Photo provided by North Central Missouri College

By MATT PIKE 

St. Joseph Post 

Ground has been broken and development has begun on the new remote campus in Savannah for North Central Missouri College.  

President Lenny Klaver says he's happy to see how much support the Savannah campus is getting.  

"We really feel good that the groundbreaking, how well it was attended, sort of exemplified the enthusiasm that the people in this part of our region have for having a campus in Savannah and the community of Savannah itself," Klaver tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. "Along with the school district and Superintendent Kurre have been nothing but greatly supportive of our effort over here." 

Renovations have already begun on the already existing building, a former car dealership, and are expected to be done this fall.  The new construction which will provide many different nursing programs is expected to be done in Fall 2023. 

Klaver says this campus is all about regional impact, and serving the area.  

"So that would include the whole service region, in particular Andrew and Buchanan Counties, as it pertains to workforce," Klaver says.  

Klaver adds the college is also working on a partnership with Missouri Western State University 

"That would involve both schools in convergent technology, basically meeting the needs of the major manufacturers, down to the smaller manufacturers of this region," Klaver explains 

Klaver says the main objective has been to help the communities in the region to get a full workforce as well as have an economic impact along with an educational impact.  

Klaver says in looking at the demographics, the Savannah area wasn't being served well, aside from students that came to live and learn on campus in Trenton. 

Which led to the idea of developing a campus in Savannah.  

"It's about serving an unmet need over here," Klaver points out. 

Klaver says a long and convoluted history with Metropolitan Community College prevented NCMC from going to Buchanan County.  

"We're not looking at being in St. Joseph, and these are projects that take several years, so we turned to Savannah because of its location in Andrew County, adjacent to Buchanan County and St. Joseph," Klaver explains. 

Klaver says the location will also help provide services for the rural area up I-229 towards Mound City, Rockport, as well as over east towards King City.  

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