New Lex Breaks Ground on Workforce Development Project

NEW LEXINGTON, Ohio – The New Lexington School District held a groundbreaking ceremony today for the expansion of their Workforce Development facilities.

New Lexington Schools Superintendent Casey Coffey talked about the $16.4 Million dollar grant that was awarded by the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission and how it will benefit the students as well as the entire community.

“We’re Currently incubating several programs in this building, in this building itself,” Coffey said. “Right now we are doing media productions. We are doing construction trades in partnership with the IBEW. We have advanced manufacturing that we’re doing in there and we have a robust healthcare pathway program right now in partnership with Genesis healthcare providing everything from Phlebotomy credentials to STNA, multi-skilled technician credentials. So yeah, we’re doing all that right now. We’re going to expand this.”

Renovations to the old high school building are expected to be completed by next December and will include a primary care facility that will serve the public and double as a training center for students to earn their occupational credentials.

“This is going to break down a lot of barriers in Appalachia,” Coffey said. “I mean, you know we have a tremendous need for these types of jobs all over the state of Ohio, quite honestly. We hope that this becomes a model that other school districts can use. We hope that this becomes a model that employers will jump on board with. You know we feel like it’s the right thing to do. I mean, you know times are changing and we have to stay up with the times. We have to be future thinking, we have to be visionary and this is part of it.”

The New Lexington career tech expansion aligns with the Governor DeWine Administration’s Workforce Development initiative. It is last year’s largest Appalachian Community Innovation Centers grant recipient.