Tooele • Utah's eighth applied technology college officially opened its doors in Tooele on Wednesday. Gov. Gary Herbert was on hand to cut the ribbon on the $15 million facility, which will offer courses in welding, professional truck driving, diesel mechanics and more.
"We have to have skills necessary to compete in a global marketplace," he said. "Not just to compete, but to win."
Herbert spoke of his goal to bring the portion of Utahns with post-secondary education from about 43 percent now to 66 percent by the year 2020.
"We can't do it without increasing the participation from [Utah Applied Technology Colleges]," he said. "There are not a lot of jobs out there for philosophy [doctorates] Ph.D.s, but there are for machinists and welders."
The Utah Legislature approved the Tooele Applied Technology College in 2009, and has been leasing space since then. Officials are hoping the 73,751-square-foot school will have 2,000 studentsby the end of the year. They are also seeing enrollments from people laid off from Tooele County and the Deseret Chemical Depot, said president Scott Snelson.
Lindsay Whitehurst