Adams County Training Center: Education, training and community participation

By Sherry Larson

People’s Defender

I can’t go back to yesterday – I’m not the same place I was then (adapted from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland). The building at 107 E. Walnut Street, West Union, formerly known as Prather’s IGA and owned initially by Chase Prather and then his son, Jay and wife Leah, is not the same place as a year ago. The transformation is inspiring and attributed to the efforts and vision of the Adams County Board of Commissioners Ty Pell, Diane Ward, Barbara Moore, Director of Economic and Community Development in Adams County, Holly Johnson, Architect from TSHD, David Stone, and WAI Project Manager, Carlos Stapleton. Johnson also notes that many agencies provided support and financial commitment.

The design is open, clean, and industrial – a blank slate. Holly Johnson says, “We wanted white spaces; we wanted it to be inclusive. We didn’t want to have any impediments when it came to people using this space.” The Board of County Commissioners owns the building, which they purchased with DP & L (power plant) training dollars. The Commissioners wanted to be sure that they used the dollars given for legacy projects, so when the Prather building became available for purchase, they took those funds to pay for it. Commissioner Diane Ward added, “We are going after additional funding to purchase the equipment necessary for welding and classroom equipment.”

They are marketing to schools in the area that may want to lease the building to provide training and education so the facility will be accredited. Once a school and accreditation are secured, they will start classes. Instruction will be available for anyone over the age of 18 years old. Another crucial component is the center’s availability to the public with the open-style café and prospective community participation one-off classes not requiring certification. These courses might include cooking classes, public seminars, and how-to workshops.

The project started in the Board of Commissioner’s office and moved over to Johnson’s office with TSHD architects and an intern developing vision boards. Entering the building, people find a sizable common area that will include a receptionist area. Located up front are the financial aid and school office. There are two nursing classrooms. The public indoor café has a row of windows looking in the neighboring classrooms. This transparent component allows visitors to see what’s happening in the training programs and hopefully ignites interest and participation. Johnson says, “The thing of it is, this is the people’s building, so let them see what we are doing.” There is an Information Technology room and a Computerized Numerical Control room. A workroom is across that has less light making it easier for screen work. The welding lab is the most complicated of the classrooms and will take the longest to get up and run.

The exposed café area includes a space perfect for a bakery, and customers can observe the cooking as they order in the open concept area. They can sit in the indoor café or enjoy the outdoors in the quaint outdoor courtyard. Johnson explained that COVID taught them the importance of being prepared, and the outdoor dining and open concept of the café is a result. The facility houses student and public restrooms. The exterior of the building exhibits murals painted by Pamela Kellough and paid for by a private donor. The mural is interactive on the alfresco dining side and may be used for fun photo ops. The vast parking lot allows for lineman and forklift training. There is careful attention to detail regarding safety and security inside and outside the facility.

The building design allows the rooms to be separated, divided, and moved. Johnson explained, “We don’t know what you’re going to need in twenty years, so we wanted to be able to make this where everything could be interchangeable.” The design offers any school that leases it to add its emblem on the large focal wall. Johnson said, “We needed them to be able to create their own space.” The goal is for folks to be awed when they walk in the door. The design team nailed it! They also left traces of when the store belonged to Prather. Johnson explained, “We wanted to leave historical markers because Chase Prather and his family have been very good to the community. It was important to leave some architectural details from the store knowing that the past opens the door to the future.” The stone in the entryway displays the name Prather and the date he started the store.

The training center is an opportunity for Adams County adults to receive education in the heart of West Union. Johnson shares that she has moved a post-it-note from month to month for the past twelve years as the economic director that reads “Adult Education,” symbolizing it as a priority. Commissioner Ty Pell said, “We have the opportunity to train our local workforce. These possibilities have been our vision since the project started. They’ll be able to transition a $12 – $15 an hour to a $25 – $30 an hour job with some of the certifications we’re going to be able to provide.” Johnson added, “My granddaughters will be able to graduate high school and walk in here and further their education. This training center is a first for Adams County. We wanted everyone to see the education possibilities here. If you see it and it becomes a part of your life, you know it’s obtainable. And that’s the whole goal with the Adult Training Center. We want to make sure that we haven’t set people up for failure and are here to support them.” Some high-school students will graduate from the Career and Technical Center. Pell said, “Hopefully, we can work together with CTC and get a program where they can start in high school and transition to the Adams County Training Center for a more advanced certification that will give them a professional career.”

Johnson also described the goal to make tuition a package deal which would include possible needed items such as steel-toed boots, helmets, and uniforms. The hope is to coordinate this with the leasing school. If not, Ohio Means Jobs will come in and complete that component.

The Board of Commissioners and Johnson believes the Prather building was worth saving. First, the renovation was cost-effective in comparison with a new structure. Secondly, everyone in town can walk there for school and lunch. And it makes sense for economic growth. “When you work in economic development, you want to market to the county; you want to be able to recruit to new businesses. When you are marketing to them, they will ask, ‘what’s your labor force?’ They also ask if you can get a workforce trained for them. Before the training center, I had to say I could send them to Maysville or Portsmouth. Now we can train them here in Adams County,” Johnson stated. “For instance, the new tooling company coming to the county needs personnel trained in tooling. The computerized numerical control program can train employees to go to work there.” Ward agreed to say, “We’ll have more industry coming in with the Winchester Industrial Park. We can train those folks, and they can remain in the county. We want our workforce to stay here in Adams County and not be forced to go outside of the county. We also want to offer training for new employees of established businesses.” Commissioner Barbara Moore echoed, “For many years, local employers and other stakeholders have asked for more workforce development and training. The Adams County Training Center will help us better prepare Adams County residents for the job market and ensure that our workforce is prepared to meet the demands of regional employers. This project is something we can be proud of.”

Johnson concluded, “The structure has taken down the hurdles. It’s a blank slate. My wish for Adams County’s Training Center is happening here. We want the people of Adams County to understand that this is their future. We did this for them.”