Progress Corporate Park home to construction education center

BRYAN BOUKARI/Alachua County Today

L-R: Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator Program Associate Director Patti Breedlove and Operations Manager Merrie Shaw and City of Alachua Mayor Gib Coerper joined NCCER President Don Whyte at a groundbreaking ceremony Monday afternoon.

Alachua’s Progress Corporate Park will soon be headquarters to the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER).  Affiliated with the University of Florida School of Building Construction, NCCER is a not-for-profit education foundation that was created by the construction industry to develop standardized curriculum and assessments with portable credentials and to help address the skilled construction workforce shortage. NCCER is recognized by the industry as the training, assessment, certification, and career development standard for the construction and maintenance craft professional.  The organization has been located in Gainesville since 1996.

At a groundbreaking ceremony Monday afternoon, NCCER officials, representatives from Progress Corporate Park and the City of Alachua came together at the site of the new facility to turn the earth, officially marking start of construction of the 31,000 square-foot building. The Haskell Company of Jacksonville is the design-build firm managing construction of the facility which will be designed to LEED silver certification, a national standard for high-performance green buildlings.

NCCER President Don Whyte was joined by Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator Program Associate Director Patti Breedlove and Operations Manager Merrie Shaw, and City of Alachua Mayor Gib Coerper, City Manager Traci Cain and Commissioner Ben Boukari, Jr.

“NCCER is the leading workforce development organization for the construction and maintenance industry,” said Whyte.  “With the critical workforce challenges facing the industry as it moves from downturn to recovery, NCCER anticipates aggressive growth.”

Whyte estimates that the building will be operational in fall 2011 and will initially bring 40 jobs to the area, with 60 additional jobs to follow. “NCCER is pleased to be building a permanent home that will support the local economy and the city of Alachua,” said Whyte.  “We are excited about the opportunities as we continue to serve today’s craft professional and the industry for many years to come.”