Tri-C’s Transportation Innovation Center Hosts Open House

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The new Transportation Innovation Center at Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C®) offers workforce training designed to fill in-demand jobs critical to keeping the U.S. economy rolling.

An open house celebration to showcase the center and its programs will take place at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 4. The center is located at 24881 Rockwell Drive in Euclid.

The training site houses the College’s Truck Driving Academy — which has turned out nearly 1,000 graduates over the past decade — as well as programs targeting the growing supply chain and logistics industry.

Approximately 70 percent of the nation’s freight rolls over highways to reach consumers. That doesn’t happen without skilled drivers behind truck steering wheels and well-trained workers in warehouses.

“The economy relies on our ability to efficiently move materials and products,” said William Gary, executive vice president of the College’s Workforce, Community and Economic Development division. “Without skilled personnel, the entire process breaks down.”

The Transportation Innovation Center offers a technologically advanced training home for the next generation of truck drivers. Interactive classrooms and a simulator featuring a 180-degree windshield view connect students to the most up-to-date information in the industry.

Acres of asphalt outside the building provide ample space for behind-the-wheel practice. Four tractor-trailers can be on the driving pad at one time.  

A state CDL testing office — one of only 16 in Ohio — also operates at the site.

In addition, the center includes a training space to equip workers with the expertise demanded for jobs in fast-paced warehouses — places like the Amazon facility located a mile away from the College’s new site.

There’s also a cavernous bay area for a future diesel engine technician program.

The College previously operated its Truck Driving Academy at a smaller site in Euclid. Demand for more training led the College to seek out a new location. Voter approval of Tri-C’s bond issue request in November 2017 made the move possible.

The overall package of programs and services available at the center is unique in the industry, said Ian Wilson, director of the center.

“Nobody else has what we’re offering here at Tri-C,” Wilson said. “The idea is to look at the whole logistics cycle. We’re keeping pace with an evolving industry and getting people ready for the jobs of today and tomorrow.”

For more information on the open house, or to RSVP for the event, contact Jenneffer Lopez at jenneffer.lopez@tri-c.edu or call 987-0492.