Hoover Donates 2 Acres To Jeff State For Welding Program

HOOVER, AL - The Jefferson State Community College Hoover Campus received some good news this week, as the Hoover City Council approved the donation of two acres of land to the college for the school's welding program. The land will be used to build a 5,000-square-foot welding building.

The proposed building will be located next to the city of Hoover’s greenhouses adjacent to Jeff State’s health science building off Valleydale Road and Jaguar Drive, according to a Hoover Sun report.

Jeff State’s welding program at its other campuses has grown from nine students to about 200 students in the past three years, according to the school's president, Keith Brown.

Shelby County Manager Alex Dudchock said the county is committing $300,000 to $350,000 in workforce development funds toward the project because county officials see welding as a big need for Shelby County and the Birmingham-Hoover metro area.

Brown told the council the college already is talking with Hoover school officials about ways to partner with the welding program that is about to open at Hoover’s new Riverchase Career Connection Center so students can seamlessly transition from the high school program to the college program. There also could be opportunities for dual enrollment as well.

According to a recent study published by Kempler Industries, Birmingham is one of the top 50 cities in the state for manufacturing jobs, with three other Alabama Cities ranked in the top 50 of the study - Huntsville (14th), Montgomery (44th), Mobile (46th) - placing Alabama with the second most cities in the top 50.