Part of the Great Oaks Campus system, the groundbreaking on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, was for a new building at the Laurel Oaks Campus in Wilmington. The soon-to-be-built building will house the new Alternative/Electric Vehicle Technician program, as well as the Construction Technology program.
Richard Foltz
WILMINGTON, Ohio — Set against the yellowing fields and brisk air of early autumn and among the whir of far-off plane engines from Wilmington Air Park, a groundbreaking took place at the Laurel Oaks Campus just outside Wilmington on Monday.
With shovels prepared under brown clay and a crowd that included students, staff, and excited onlookers waiting in anticipation, the ceremony got underway.
The event included speeches from CEO/president/superintendent of Great Oaks Career Campuses Harry Snyder and Ohio Lt. Governor Jon Husted, both of whom spoke on what expansion of the campus would mean. Namely, they spoke of new opportunities and access to education for students and residents of Clinton County.
“Ohio is the heart of it all,” said Husted. “Because we make the things that people need to live and thrive. From the food you eat to the cars you drive, to the trucks that deliver it all, to the airplanes that fly right over there, to the cloud that connects our devices and connects us to AI and the chips that power all those devices and much, much, much more. That’s what we do in Ohio.”
Part of the Great Oaks Campus system, the groundbreaking was for a new building at the Laurel Oaks Campus in Wilmington. The soon-to-be-built building will house the new Alternative/Electric Vehicle Technician program, as well as the Construction Technology program.
The project was made possible by a $6.8 million state grant to double the Laurel Oaks Welding & Fabrication program and to add the new Alternative/Electric Vehicle Technician and Law Enforcement programs.
“As a company, your competitors can purchase the same robots, the same computers, the same process equipment. Almost everything you have, your competition can purchase this, too. A company’s true competitive advantage comes from its associates, from its people, their skills, their experience, their ideas and innovation, their engagement, ownership, and challenge,” said Snyder.
He added:
“These are the intangible characteristics that create success, not just for the company, but more importantly, and most importantly, for those individuals. The foundation or spark that ignites and creates these characteristics, starts right here at Laurel Oaks. Generating interest in STEM fields, collaborating with businesses, and building the skills for the future is what excites me when considering what’s happening here today.”
With campuses in west Cincinnati, Wilmington, Milford, and Sharonville, the joint vocational school districts have been operating in southwest Ohio since 1970. With a territory spanning 2,200 square miles of southwest Ohio, the campuses serve over 3,000 high school students and 18,000 secondary and middle school students through Great Oaks satellite programs embedded in schools throughout the region, and over 13,000 adult students attending.
One of the largest career and technical education districts in the United States, Great Oaks provides students with 30 different career fields in healthcare, advanced manufacturing, robotics, construction technology, culinary arts, information systems, animal care, and more.
“I’ve always believed that if you give somebody a good education and you give them a good job, they don’t need much else,” said Husted. “You have good values mixed into there and you can live your version of the American dream. But it starts with an education.”
