Motlow McMinnville Set For $5M Expansion For Mechatronics And Cybersecurity

Motlow State’s McMinnville campus set to get a $5 million expansion to increase opportunities in mechatronics and cybersecurity.

Automation and Robotics Training Center Executive Director Larry Flatt said the expansion comes as part of a growing student interest and a growing industry need for both programs.

“We intend to grow that,” Flatt said. “And if we do that in McMinnville specifically, our current room size and laboratories are not large enough to accommodate the equipment and/or the number of student load that we anticipate having in that class.”

Flatt said the expansion will add some 7,000 square feet to the current facility. He said that will include new learning laboratories and three new classrooms.

Flatt said the school started its mechatronics program in 2010 and its cybersecurity program some four years ago. Since each program began, Flatt said there has been a boom in both fields. He said Motlow McMinnville currently has about a 92 percent job placement rate on paper.

“But if you look at the number of people already working and those that get jobs we’re up to the 97 percent 98 percent placement rate,” Flatt said. “So industries are embracing the job, the industry’s saying we can’t hire enough people as quickly as we need them. We work with companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google IT, to be able to get lots of certificates or micro-credentials before our students even graduate college.”

Flatt said they hope to break ground sometime next spring, with the first classes in Spring 2024.