Tennessee breaks ground on new technical education facilities

A photo from TBR’s X page shows Memphis education leaders at a groundbreaking ceremony for TCAT Memphis facilities. 

The Tennessee Board of Regents recently celebrated several groundbreakings for new technical education facilities at Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology (TCAT) as part of the state's $1 billion investment in career and technical education, a recent announcement on X said.

According to the announcement, groundbreakings included TCAT Northwest at Covington, TCAT Memphis, TCAT Livingston, TCAT Upper Cumberland and TCAT Chattanooga. Tennessee Board of Regents Communication Director Richard Locker told Tennessee Firefly that the capital improvement projects are part of the TCAT Master Plan, which seeks to modernize TCAT facilities across the state in order to provide tens of thousands more Tennesseans with access to career training programs.

“The Master Plan projects and the other projects funded [through the investment] will allow more students to be served, and more career programs offered,” he said, adding that the investment was part of Gov. Bill Lee’s FY 2023-24 budget.

Lee said in his 2023 State of the State address that the TCAT Master Plan would be the “largest investment in our technical colleges in state history.”

“Pathways to success don’t look the same for every Tennessean, nor should they. For many, a certification from one of our Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology will open the right doors. Since 2019, we've prioritized TCAT construction across this state, so more Tennesseans can kickstart a great career close to home,” he said, adding that the investments will build on that work.

According to Locker, Tennessee’s technical colleges were mostly built in the 1960s to train Tennesseans for “a far different economy than the high-tech one we have today and project for the future.”  He said they resembled small high schools, built largely with concrete block construction that was difficult to modify as new training needs evolved.

“All the new projects are being built to enable future expansions and modifications as training needs change,” Locker said.

Locker said site preparation has already begun on some of the projects and full-scale construction will begin over the next few months. He added that the TCAT capital projects are all expected to be completed by 2026.

“After the series of groundbreaking ceremonies across the state this summer and fall, the next steps are the actual construction of the projects,” he said.

For more information on the TCAT Master plan, visit www.tbr.edu.