After several years of long-term planning, Southeast Technical has set projects in motion to expand both its Red Wing and Winona campuses. New buildings on each campus will help the college right-size its facilities to support growing programs and match demand for classroom and office space.

In Red Wing, Southeast Technical has delivered a letter of intent to purchase the Bergwall Hockey Arena from the Red Wing School District for $900,000, with plans to close on the sale this September. Funds to purchase the property were made available by the Southeast Technical Foundation. Through the agreement, the college will lease the arena to the school district and local hockey association for three to five years, after which the existing building will be demolished and replaced with a new facility to house allied health programs.

In Winona, Southeast Technical closed July 1 on the sale of its Galewski Road airport campus property to local composite manufacturer PlastiComp for $2.25 million. Some programs previously using the airport campus property—including Carpentry, Small Engine Repair, and Computer Aided Design (CAD) Drafting Technologies—have been transferred back to the main Winona campus on Homer Road. Welding Technology, Computerized (CNC) Precision Machining Technology, and Industrial Technology will continue using the airport campus for the foreseeable future through a long-term lease with PlastiComp.

With the funds from the sale of the airport campus and additional state bonding dollars that will be requested from future bonding bills, the college plans to construct a new building at the Homer Road location to provide upgraded trades and technology facilities, expanded classroom and office space, and easier access to student services.

Current Southeast Technical students with prior high school band experience are invited to join the Concert or Jazz Ensembles for fall semester at Winona State University or Saint Mary’s University. Your participation will not be for credit and is free. Participants are expected to take part in all scheduled rehearsals as well as concerts. If you're interested, contact Randy Blaser in the Student Services office at 507-453-1451 to obtain contact information and rehearsal schedules.

The Computerized (CNC) Precision Machining Technology program at Southeast Technical welcomed a generous gift from Fastenal this week. As part of a continued partnership between the college and the manufacturing company, Fastenal delivered a CNC tooling machine and two CNC lathes, a gift totaling approximately $150,000, to the Winona airport campus. By receiving hands-on training with the new machines, future graduates will have experience working with the latest technology. To learn more, read the full story in the Winona Daily News.

Southeast Technical and Fastenal have partnered on several initiatives over the years with the goal of producing highly skilled employees who can excel at the company on day one. The college looks forward to creating similar business partnerships across the southeast Minnesota region that will help bolster the local economy and improve job prospects for Southeast Tech graduates.

Please join Southeast Technical President Jim Johnson and the entire Southeast Technical community in welcoming new MnSCU Chancellor Steven Rosenstone. To learn more about Chancellor Rosenstone and his vision for the MnSCU system, please read visit www.MinnState.edu.