The Forum

The Advanced Manufacturing Center (AMC) on the Florissant Valley campus opened March 24, the second of two buildings this year. The first was the Nursing and Health Sciences Building, which opened in January. The 96,000 square-foot AMC had been under construction since August 2023 as part of the college’s STLCC Transformed initiative.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place April 1. The well-attended event featured remarks from high-profile figures such as Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe and St. Louis County Executive Sam Page. Blue and steel balloon columns were placed on each side of the building’s main entrance on its east end, facing Florissant Valley’s horseshoe drive, while students, politicians, administrators, construction officials, and press crowded the main lobby.

In an alcove on one side of the entrance, robotic arms cycled through motions; one repeatedly

grabbed and moved small white cubes while curious onlookers watched. Security personnel and event attendees peered down from the wrap-around interior balconies of the upper floors, illuminated by a gigantic skylight.

The Forum had been given a private tour of the building the day after it opened, when it was much less busy. Vincent S. Boyd, district director of advanced manufacturing industry, was our guide and first took us down to the lowest floor of the building. The large hallway below the central stairs is the building’s so-called “main street,” and is flanked on each side by large, windowed garage-style doors, which will provide ventilation and put the training of students on display, Boyd told us. 

The hall was sparsely outfitted with new furniture: desks, coffee tables, and cushioned chairs still wrapped in plastic. Boyd showed us a small room under the steps furnished with lockers and microwaves, which he said was for manufacturing students to use during long days spent in the building, characteristic of the full-day nature of some of the programs set to be housed in the Advanced Manufacturing Center.

After a period of mingling, The Forum’s attending staff tucked ourselves into a small pocket beside the podium, which was placed at the bottom of the Advanced Manufacturing Center’s central stairwell and its parallel amphitheater-style seating. Vincent S. Boyd was standing next to us in the same small recess, and we greeted him for the first time since we had first met at our tour a week prior. As the presenters took their seats in a line on each side of the podium, a large projector screen dangled overhead, displaying a live feed of the soon-to-be speeches. Months earlier, I’d been told that this arrangement would one day be used to screen movies for students.

Opening remarks were given by STLCC Chancellor Jeff Pittman. He noted that, while the building was already hosting staff offices and was outfitted with amenities and new machinery, more programs—as well as more furniture for student lounge spaces—were still coming to the building in the near future. He praised the early college program that had been moved to a suite on the main floor of the building, calling it a “great opportunity to see the careers in manufacturing while still in high school.” Many programs previously hosted in other buildings will be moving, according to Pittman, who said to the audience that Flo Valley is “moving about all” programs currently hosted in the Center for Workforce Innovation to the new Advanced Manufacturing Center, calling attention specifically to STLCC’s Boeing Pre-Employment Training program.

Rounding out his speech, Pitman thanked many people in attendance for their support, including Governor Kehoe, Sam Page, other local politicians, and the construction and architectural firms responsible for Flo Valley’s two new buildings. He said, “it’s very humbling to be standing here with all these people,” and, addressing the audience filled with administrators, students, and political and business leaders, “we couldn’t have done any of this without all of you.” Pittman then turned the podium over to Craig Larson, a member of the STLCC Board of Trustees.

On our tour, Boyd took us through the many workspaces and classrooms on each floor of the building. The center holds a combination of workshop classrooms and more traditional lecture halls, which on the lower floor are often attached to one another through doorways and the interior windows that define the open design of the building. The loading bay, which opens to the parking lot south of the Advanced Manufacturing Center, was mainly vacant, awaiting new machines which would fill the large area. The first floor also held a welding studio complete with 26 separate welding bays for students working towards STLCC’s certification in the trade. Boyd was particularly eager to expound on this program, because, according to him, “if you have welding credentials, you’ll never be out of work.”

Governor Kehoe, now standing center stage below the grand staircase, opened his speech with a joke and made many more throughout his time speaking, getting big laughs from the audience. He noted that this was the third time he’d been at STLCC in a year, stating “career and technical training is what I want to be about.” He gave nods to many local politicians in attendance and noted the widespread political support for investments in career-focused education in both Jefferson City and the St. Louis region, smiling as he declared that the endeavor is “not a fad.” Near the end of his comments, he told of his upbringing in the St. Louis area. He reminisced that he grew up “maybe seven miles south of here” and expressed a great pride in the community of his childhood.

The Forum had the opportunity to briefly speak with Governor Mike Kehoe after the ribbon-cutting. On the building, Kehoe told us “It’s absolutely amazing. It really is a brick-and-mortar presence for kids for their future. I love how it ties the business community along with the education community to really provide what it’s all about, and that’s getting successful employment.” When asked if more state money—like the grants that helped fund STLCC Transformed—would be given to the school for further projects, he said, “We have several grants out there designed toward career and technical education. Community colleges can certainly take advantage of that.” Kehoe specified that millions in state dollars helped build the building we were standing in, along with a local property tax increase, Prop R.

Speaking after the governor, County Executive Sam Page gave quite short remarks, mainly focusing on STLCC’s Boeing Pre-Employment Training program, which he said was “something I am particularly and especially proud of.” He praised Boeing’s investments in the St. Louis area and, mentioning the Boeing representative—a company vice president—who would speak at the podium after him, he told attendees that Boeing had recently been awarded a contract by the Department of Defense to produce the Air Force’s next generation fighter jet, dubbed the F-47. The new military aircraft will be built right here in St. Louis. On the heels of that announcement, and with the possibility that STLCC students may go on to work on the F-47, Page echoed the tagline of STLCC Transformed: “As the STLCC website states, ‘we’re building more than buildings.’” To Page, “It really is a proud moment for everyone in the St. Louis area,” a sentiment that Boeing Vice President of Manufacturing and Safety James Dewees expanded on moments later.

The Boeing Pre-Employment Training program will occupy a significant area of the Advanced Manufacturing Center’s floor space. Vincent S. Boyd spent a large portion of the tour detailing the Boeing partnership and took us through the workspaces that would soon host the program’s two new paths: composites and sheet metal. The composites program, as Boyd told us, is the fabrication of the outermost portion of an aircraft using composite materials like carbon fiber, whereas the sheet metal program is manufacturing the metallic frame. The Boeing training program is particularly career-focused, with students completing the program being promised interviews at Boeing—though not necessarily a job.

“Last but not least,” as Chancellor Pittman introduced her, was Florissant Valley Campus President Elizabeth Perkins. Perkins noted how unique of a position that she and Flo Valley are in: “As campus president, this is one of those moments that I know I’ll look back on for years to come.” This is the second ribbon-cutting for a new building at Flo Valley that she has spoken at in the past few months, and as she noted, “It is very rare… for someone to get to do this two times.” Perkins has been a prominent figure in overseeing the construction projects on campus, and, in her remarks, she made sure to note that for her and for STLCC Transformed, student needs are the first priority.