Wake Tech Community College showcased its new Beltline Education Center, a larger and more accessible facility for adult education, at an open house today. Business and community leaders, and other local partners attended the event and toured the 81,000-square-foot building, which Wake Tech is leasing. The center is located at 3200 Bush Street in Raleigh, just north of the beltline, offering ample parking and easy access to major thoroughfares.

“Our primary mission here is putting people to work,” said Anthony Caison, Wake Tech’s Vice President of Workforce Continuing Education. “Having so many new classrooms, computer labs and hands-on training facilities in one building is ideal for serving the training needs of the community – and the location is prime.”

The Beltline Education Center houses Wake Tech’s first Advanced Manufacturing Center, a 3,000-square-foot, one-stop shop for training in basic and advanced machining, automation, and circuit board technologies. The Advanced Manufacturing Center provides a customized training space for Wake County business and industry and for individuals preparing for high-demand careers.

The center features a new, full-service lab housing the Workforce Continuing Education School of Cosmetology, which will open later this year and offer a streamlined, non-degree alternative for cosmetology training and certification. It will also offer salon services to the public, provided on site by students.

The Beltline Education Center is the hub of Wake Tech’s College and Career Readiness programs, which were formerly housed at the Adult Education Center on Capital Boulevard. The Beltline Education Center serves more than 500 students each day with adult basic education programing, including High School Equivalency Preparation (GED preparation), Adult High School, English as a Second Language, and Adult Basic Education (ABE/TOPS) for students with intellectual disabilities.

“We are thrilled with the new space and very excited about the variety of training programs we’ll be able to provide in one place,” said Monica Gemperlein, Wake Tech’s Associate Vice President of Open Enrollment Programs. “Our goal is helping people prepare to compete and succeed in the workforce,”

For more information about the Beltline Education Center, contact Monica Gemperlein at mpgemperlein@waketech.edu or 919-334-1520.