Advanced Manufacturing Center Finishes Construction

Mortenson Presents Clark with Symbolic Key

_{Left to right: Mortenson Market Director Carolyn Sizemore, Clark College President Dr. Karin Edwards, Clark College Board of Trustees Marilee Scarbrough and Cristhian Canseco Juárez, and Clark College Vice President of Operations Sabra Sand.}

The Advanced Manufacturing Center at the Boschma Farms campus in Ridgefield has officially finished construction. To celebrate, developer and design-builder Mortenson officially presented Clark College with the keys this past Tuesday, November 19.

The ceremony, held in the new building, welcomed around 100 guests, including the Clark College Foundation and Board of Trustees, the City of Ridgefield, and on-site workers and trade partners. After speeches by project leadership, Clark’s mascot Oswald the Penguin helped accept the symbolic key presented by Mortenson.

_{Left to right: Sabra Sand, Calen Ouellette, Dr. Karin Edwards, Oswald, Vanessa Neal, Dorji Damdul, Dr. Terry Brown, Benjamin Sasse, and Gurraj Singh Dhami.}

Speakers:

Dr. Karin Edwards, President, Clark College
Sabra Sand, Vice President of Operations, Clark College
Carolyn Sizemore, Market Director, Mortenson

Clark College will begin moving into its first building, the Advanced Manufacturing Center, over the next few months and readying the space for classes to begin in 2025. General education classes will be held there in Spring 2025; five general education classrooms and one computer lab will accommodate a future capacity to serve up to 1,200 students per term.

By Fall 2025, the complex will become the hub for the college’s advanced manufacturing program which is currently in development. When completed, the program will provide an initial enrollment of 32 students in two cohorts of 16, with plans to eventually serve 48 students across three cohorts. A grand opening is planned for 2025 when the college officially opens its doors.

_{The building’s heart, the open manufacturing floor is visible from the hallways and is always visitors’ favorite part of the building.}

Located on a 10-acre property east of the Ridgefield Junction, the 49,000-square-foot Advanced Manufacturing Center features a vast open manufacturing floor, collaboration zones, satellite instructional facilities, classrooms, laboratories, offices, and more. The 35,000 square feet dedicated to manufacturing training includes three industry-specific classrooms, four labs, five manufacturing cells, and a vast open manufacturing floor. The remaining 14,000 square feet houses the five general education classrooms, along with faculty and student amenities.

Manufacturing and classroom spaces in the Advanced Manufacturing Center are designed for multiple delivery modes including lecture, collaborative, project-based learning, and hybrid models implementing online content and classroom application. The facility’s acoustic design ensures that unamplified voice communication will carry above ambient machine noise. The flexible design of the structure is envisioned to accommodate future growth and will serve students, Ridgefield, and other north Clark County communities.

View of AMC building from the street side.

“This milestone marks an incredible step forward for Clark College and the Ridgefield community,” said Dr. Edwards. “We are committed to delivering an education environment that fosters innovation, collaboration, and workforce readiness. The Advanced Manufacturing Center will provide invaluable opportunities to develop critical skills in a growing field, allowing us to support the region’s workforce and expand educational access in north Clark County.”

Mortenson’s Market Director, Carolyn Sizemore emphasized the project’s unique attributes. The LEED Silver-certified Advanced Manufacturing Center meets state energy performance standards, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and improves operational efficiencies. The progressive design-build construction delivery method used on the building was spearheaded by Mortenson in collaboration with Henneberry Eddy Architects; this delivery method proved instrumental to the successful implementation of the use of prefabrication in this project and the resulting efficiencies.

Mortenson is a U.S.-based builder, developer, and engineering services provider serving the commercial, institutional, and energy sectors. Their portfolio of integrated services helps its customers move their strategies forward, resulting as a turnkey partner, fully invested in the business success of its customers.

_{100 guests, including the Clark College Foundation and Board of Trustees, the City of Ridgefield, and on-site workers and trade partners attended the event.}

“The Advanced Manufacturing Center is a stunning testament to what can be achieved when stakeholders come together with a shared vision,” said Sizemore. “Clark College envisioned a sustainable, future-ready facility adaptable for growth in the Ridgefield community. We are proud to deliver this anchor building on the Ridgefield campus and we are confident that it will exceed the aspirations of Clark College and the Ridgefield community.”

View more photos from the event on our Flickr page. https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBSpxw

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley