CVCC opening Amherst campus this fall

After nearly three years of planning, Amherst County is slated to get its own satellite campus of Central Virginia Community College this fall.

The deal is coming through after Del. Ben Cline, R-Rockbridge, sponsored a $300,000 appropriation from the General Assembly, college officials said at a Tuesday news conference.

Cline, who was at the conference, said the project had been a “collaborative effort” between city, county and state officials.

“With their help, this is going to be a permanent institution here,” he said. The Amherst Center will be at Mountainview Plaza, on Richmond Highway in Amherst, said Stan Shoun, the college’s vice president of workforce development and continuing education.

“It’s an old pharmacy building, and they’re going to renovate it for us,” Shoun said Tuesday morning. “We’ll have about 8,000 square feet that will include traditional classrooms, distance-education classrooms, computer classrooms, a space for a conference area.”

Renovations are scheduled to begin in the spring, and the first class is projected to have about 125 students.

“Ultimately, we would like to see 250 (students) there each year,” Shoun said.

He said the school would provide an educational opportunity to students who eventually will help the area develop economically since they can become a part of the local workforce.

The area has seen economic growth in anticipation of the new campus, he said.

“Commercials Metal Company has already moved into the area based on that knowledge,” he said. “We already have an agreed training program (with them).”

The campus will also provide an outlet for local high school students who want to take college classes, Shoun said.

An Early College program already in place in Bedford and Appomattox counties will be offered in Amherst starting this fall, he said.

The program allows students to take classes at the community college that fulfill high school requirements while also earning an associate’s degree.

“The open house for that is April 2 at the high school,” at 7 p.m., Shoun said.

The Amherst Center will be the community college’s fifth satellite campus. In addition to the school’s main branch in Lynchburg, campuses currently operate in Altavista, Appomattox, Bedford and Brookneal.

Funding has been difficult for Amherst County, Shoun said, since it does not receive funding from the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission.

The commission provides education grants in 41 tobacco-dependent localities in Southwest and Southside Virginia, including Appomattox, Bedford and Campbell counties. That money has helped establish satellite campuses in the past, Shoun said.

“This has been my hardest nut to crack,” Shoun said.

The school also hopes to have a satellite center in the Smith Mountain Lake area in the next few years, he said.

At the news conference, CVCC President Darrel Staat the new campus will provide education, work with the business community, and develop the local economy.

“CVCC — where your future begins,” he said, quoting the school’s motto. “And I certainly hope that is the case here.”

The college will begin taking applications for enrollment this summer, and plans to announce sign-up dates and times in the coming month.