MWSU hosts grand opening for Houlne Center
By Jazmine Knight
Missouri Western State University and North Central Missouri College gathered to celebrate the ribbon cutting of the new Houlne Center for Convergent Technology on Friday.
The 20,000-square-foot laboratory provides practical and applied learning in industries such as skilled manufacturing, construction and innovative service technologies.
“This has been a two to two and a half year project, it started out. But the best part is, it’s always been a collaboration from day one,” said MWSU President Elizabeth Kennedy.
After working closely with Dr. Lenny Klaver, president of NCMC, the two university presidents asked ‘what does this region really need in terms of education and workforce development?’
“One of the things I always say is education provides the infrastructure for workforce development,” Kennedy said. “There really isn’t anything like this and a 50-mile radius.”
According to Bennett Boggs, commissioner of higher education and workforce development for the state of Missouri, the Houlne Center will help employers create pipelines for students to become employees while also giving Missouri students the credentials they need for high salaried careers.
“The bottom line is, good economic development and good community development go hand in hand,” Boggs said.
Commissioner Boggs stated that between 2024 and 2030, 82% of jobs will require some type of education past high school. With the Houlne Center, Boggs hopes that young people can learn about different pathways which could lead to a successful future.
“That kind of good training and good education that’s going to be transferable anywhere,” Boggs said. “People are going to need to know about good technology, cybersecurity, construction and other things.”
The grand opening of the Houlne Center also means that both students seeking an Associate’s degree in Industrial Technology or Manufacturing and students seeking a Bachelor’s degree in Construction or Cybersecurity, now have one facility which houses all of their courses.
“Eventually we hope to have some of the high school students coming from Hillyard to be taking some of their classes here,” Kennedy said.
The Houlne Center has no classrooms, however, through partnerships with local businesses, the Center meets current industry standards.
The Houlne Center provides students with similar equipment and technology to the tools that practicing professionals use and contributes to a unique hands-on learning experience.
“You’ll be career ready from day one,” Kennedy said.
A majority of the equipment in the Houlne Center is on casters which makes them easy to move. Students and professors can rearrange equipment as they please to accommodate classroom needs and customize workforce training.
“We now have the facility where that training can occur. So that will help with our economic prosperity and development in our community,” Kennedy said.
President Kennedy hopes the Houlne Center will unlock new opportunities for already growing programs at MWSU. For example, their 3-year-old Cybersecurity program has already tripled in size and now with the Houlne Center, the goal is to attract even more students to apply and learn at the state-of-the-art facility.
Boggs believes this new addition to MWSU confirms that the university is focused on the future and he’s excited to see the future innovations to come.
“I really do believe this is what the future looks like for so many of our universities in that partnership with the region,” Boggs said.
A few students have already used the Houlne Center for classes but come 2025, the Houlne Center will be welcoming students into the Cyber Bays.
Eventually MWSU hopes to transfer more classes into the Kit Bond Incubator building across the street from the Houlne Center to make access easier for students.
