Training facility underway for Prosser heavy equipment program

Brooke McAfee, The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.
·3 min read

Feb. 14—NEW ALBANY — A new facility will enhance learning opportunities for Prosser Career Education Center students.

Construction is underway to build the new Heavy Equipment Training Facility at the New Albany school. The groundbreaking took place last week, and the facility will be ready in time for the fall semester.

The facility will include a 120-by-80-foot awning, and it will be about 30 feet high with LED lighting. Construction began last week, and the structure should be finished in the next month or so.

The Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) of Indiana/Kentucky is fully funding the $400,000 building project. MAC Construction is the project lead, and The Koetter Group and Gaylor Electric are completing the construction.

Kyle Lanoue, career and technical education (CTE) director at Prosser, said the school works closely with ABC, which is facing challenges with a shortage of heavy equipment operators.

"We already had a great heavy equipment program, so building off of that, they asked, what are some of the things that we would need to help support that," he said. "We had several conversations and ideas, and ABC's board elected to donate, effectively, a building."

The weather is an obstacle for Prosser's heavy equipment program as rainy or wintry conditions prevent students from operating the equipment outside. However, the covered structure will allow for year-round programming at the training facility.

The new setup with lighting allows Prosser to expand its offerings into the early evening hours. Jerry Pellman, the heavy equipment instructor at Prosser, said the school is aiming to begin an adult education program next year for the heavy equipment program.

Gracie Bostock, a senior at Floyd Central High School, is in Prosser's heavy equipment program. She is excited about the opportunities the facility will provide future students, and she believes it will help the school introduce more students to the program.

She said the Prosser classes have "brought her a lot of experience, not only with operating responsibilities and basic communication skills but also a background of basic construction." She is interested in potentially working in the construction field.

Lanoue said the new facility will "effectively double the size" of its heavy equipment programming. He referenced the need for qualified employees across various industries.

"Manufacturing, construction [and] health careers are all very much lacking competent, qualified employees," Lanoue said. "Construction workers across all elements of construction are very highly sought after, and heavy equipment operators are very much in that pool."

"And so we really are pleased with the fact that we're not just producing workers, we're producing very highly skilled, competent workers," he said. "They're sought after by all of our employees."

According to Lanoue, the entire Gaylor Electric crew that is completing the construction of the facility consists of former Prosser students.

"It's just another reminder of the impact Prosser has across the region," he said. "We serve six counties, 26 schools and 15 different school districts. Throughout the years, dating back to 1969, we have just really created a large swath of the variety of industries in Southern Indiana. Our alumni are in all elements in almost all walks of industry backgrounds."