West Shore Community College recently finished construction on their new Manistee downtown center.
“It’s kind of going to be another catalyst for development in downtown,” said Stacie Bytwork, President and CEO of the Manistee Area Chamber of Commerce.
The college, along with their partners Northwest Michigan Works! and the Manistee Area Chamber of Commerce, had the idea for this new community space back in 2017.
“We’re seeing more and more nationally that you cannot have great student success if you don’t have strong economy and vice versa,” said Scott Ward, President of West Shore Community College. “By working together, I think we can bolster the whole region and the economy.”
Ward thinks that success for both the community and students, starts with this new building.
“It’s much more than just the academic classes from the college,” said Ward. “It’s that workforce, economic development, how we’re providing social services to our community and our students.”
The building has classrooms, conference rooms, and all the partners share a collaborative office space.
The Chamber of Commerce is excited for the opportunities this building will provide for the downtown area.
“When we’re working with people that want to invest in our community or our developers to bring them to a nice beautiful space in the downtown,” said Bytwork. “It shows that we’re ready for growth and development.”
They’re hoping this new space will help enforce the college’s goals while providing economic and collaborative opportunities for the community.
“With the economic development, workforce development educational missions all merging together, we’re really excited about how we can serve the community,” said Ward.
© 2023 - 910 Media Group