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NTCC considers Ore City center

The Northeast Texas Community College Board of Trustees heard a proposal for an Outreach Center in Ore City when they met Tuesday night (April 22).

Dr. Judy Traylor presented the proposal.

She said that “an outreach center in Ore City will address the needs of the residents of Ore City and surrounding communities in Upshur County.”

She said the proposed facility, which would be located in the heart of Ore City, “is a natural extension of NTCC’s mission as a community college and our goal to provide outreach services to help improve the quality of life for all the residents in our service area.”

She said that their plan is to have a center in each corner of the college service area.

Dr. Traylor said that the college had previously maintained an Adult Education Center in Lone Star, which was cosponsored by NTCC and Lone Star Steel and operated for more than 12 years.

When U.S. Steel purchased Lone Star, however, they decided to reclaim the center for their own in-house training. “Whereas we were limited in the kinds of services we could provide at the Lone Star Center because of the cosponsorship with Lone Star Steel, in Ore City we could expand our services to include programs for a wider population,” she said.

She said that because the previous center was located on Lone Star Steel property, the plant did not want to be liable for youth participants, which limited the types of programs that could be offered.

“Another contributing factor to the need for an outreach center for Upshur County is the estimated number of high school graduates in this area who do not pursue post-secondary education or further training,” she said.

Dr. Traylor said that 51 percent of the students in parts of three counties are not enrolled in higher education.

“Gilmer ISD, Harleton ISD, New Diana ISD and Union Grove ISD are not in our college service area,” she explained.

“However, these school districts border Ore City, and the potential for students to attend classes at the center in Ore City exists.

“Additionally, New Diana, Ore City and Harleton have developed an informal consortium where they have agreed to work together to coordinate with each community college in their area to provide combined dual credit classes for their students,” she said.

She said the goal of this outreach center is to establish a partnership between the college, the local school districts, other community colleges and the community in general that will contribute to the education, leadership and economic development of this section of Northeast and East Texas for all residents.

A building on U.S. 259 in downtown Ore City would be renovated to serve as the center. They would solicit financial support from the Upshur County Economic Development Board and the state representative for Upshur County (currently Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola).

Another focus area would be to provide a wide range of adult and youth education and training opportunities and community service/service-learning projects.

It would also provide grass-roots leadership training, continuing education, small business development, and community-building activities for Ore City residents.

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