News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
TCAT’s Livingston Campus broke ground Wednesday on a new diesel training center and an administrative building.
The two building projects are part of Tennessee’s two-year $1.5 billion investment in TCAT facilities statewide. TCAT Chancellor Flora Tydings said the expansion of the campus will be a benefit to the student’s future.
“To the students that will utilize this facility again, they are going to walk away with a degree with an opportunity like no other,” Tydings said. “They are going to have a job the day that they walk away from this college and that’s what means the most to the state of Tennessee. The mission statement for TBR is quite simple, student success and workforce development is what we do every single day.”
TCAT Upper Cumberland President Cliff Wightman said the new buildings will provide additional space for the school to implement new programs. Wightman said providing new programs will attract more industries to Overton County.
“The more that we have to offer industry that is existing or industry that is looking to relocate,” Wightman said. “Facilities like these and these expansions that is a big part of that is the draw for these folks.”
Wightman said the school will offer more programs to students so they can obtain a good-paying job without having to leave the Upper Cumberland.
“Everything that any TCAT or any community college trains pertain to what is localized,” Wightman said. “We are not going to train for anything that a student can’t get a job in at all. That is the whole goal of our entire TVR system, putting students to work.”
Wightman said the diesel building is already under construction and expects the building to be completed by March of 2025. Wightman said the administrative building is something new and the timeline for that building to be completed is late fall of 2025 or early spring of 2026.
