KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — Kalamazoo Valley Community College says job creation will be the main focus of its new downtown campus, which opens to the public this weekend.
Associate Vice President Dean McCurdy said not just any jobs, but the jobs that employers say they can’t fill because too few are qualified: Nurses and EMTs, chefs and food service experts. He said they consulted with employers, did focus groups and did their own employment research to see what fields had the openings.
KVCC’s culinary program isn’t just a cooking school. It begins in the farmer’s field, moves to a food distribution and processing center that they are setting up and then into the kitchen. They will be running their own restaurant soon, with their own beer-brewing program on the second floor.
They will also be setting up their own food processing operation, where they’ll take local produce and prepare it for use in the kitchens of local institutions.
KVCC’s medical training facilities are state-of-the-art. There are several simulated wards with all the equipment and access ports that you would find in a hospital. There are also simulated patients students can practice with.
There’s even have the back-half of an ambulance on the third floor that EMTs can use to simulate providing care in a tight space.
An open house will be held from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the new facility next to Bronson Methodist Hospital on Walnut Street, and their farming operation next to Kalamazoo Public Safety on the Crosstown Parkway.
