NEMCC expands footprint, plans massive career-technical education complex and conference center
College completes purchase of former Corinthian Furniture building
BOONEVILLE, Miss. -- (01/24/2022) — Through the years Northeast Mississippi Community College has established a physical presence in each of the five counties (Alcorn, Prentiss, Tippah, Tishomingo, Union) in its district.
Recently, the college expanded its footprint in its home county with the purchase of the former Corinthian Furniture building at 2100 W. Chambers Drive in Booneville.
With the approximately 350,000 square foot facility on the 43 acre property, the college has designs on creating a career-technical education complex and conference center, and according to Northeast president Dr. Ricky G. Ford, the advantages of such a development far exceed that of additional classroom and lab space.
"We are very excited about this facility, but not only for the college in regard to increasing enrollment, but it enables us to create more opportunities for the people of northeast Mississippi to enhance their skills and for us to better contribute to economic development because with this building, we can also provide extensive, specific workforce training to area industry and help our economic developers recruit more industry to this area," Ford said.
"In addition to these things, we want to increase our number of graduates to attack the lack of skilled workers in north Mississippi," Ford continued. "We are concerned about the culturethe way of life of the citizens of this area. We want to continue to enhance the culture and lead the way in making sure our people have good jobs so they can better provide for their families now and for generations to come.
College officials began exploring the possibility of purchasing this property and seeking funds to do so approximately three years ago and executive vice president Dr. Craig-Ellis Sasser said that's when the vision for what could be done with the facility was born.
"Our plan is to combine workforce education and career technical education to provide more opportunities for our students, as well as the residents of northeast Mississippi," Sasser explained.
"We will offer flexible training within time frames of four weeks up to two years. We'll operate a conference center complete with a commercial-style kitchen where students in our culinary arts program will gain valuable experience by providing food services for all events held in the center."
According to associate Vice President for career-technical education education Jason Mattox, the college will eventually move over 20 CTE programs to the facility, which will allow the college to grow these programs, while providing adequate space for the development of new programs in the future.
Vice president of finance Chris Murphy said, at a cost of $7.2 million, the purchase represents a significant investment in career-technical education and workforce training in the entire region.
Currently, there is no firm timeline for the development of the facility, but vice president for workforce training and economic development Nadara Cole believes this is an exciting opportunity for the college.
"To me, this building exemplifies the word community in community college," Cole said.
"It will enhance our ability to assist the unemployed and under employed to move toward a better career pathway. They may begin with short-term workforce training and learn the skills it takes to land a better job or be successful in a degree program.
"Because of the flexibility of the building, we will be able to design the labs exactly how we want them to be and years from now, this will be a center that can change to fit the needs of the community."
Media Announcement: To view the media announcement by Northeast Mississippi Community College on its purchase of the former Corinthian Furniture Building and the college's plans for a massive career-technical education complex and conference center, please click here -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMsD7qK1DE4
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Information about Northeast Mississippi Community College
Northeast Mississippi Community College, located in Booneville, Mississippi, is continually moving forward.
In the spring of 2020, Northeast became just one of four community colleges in the world to reach the prestigious Apple Distinguished School designation. NEMCC was the recipient of the Ellucian Impact Award for 2020 that recognizes the college's advancements in technology and is the only school in the nation to receive the award with the second award going to the University of Greenwich in London and Kent, United Kingdom.
Northeast has been named one of the top colleges and universities in Mississippi and was recognized by the Mississippi Business Journal as the Healthiest Workplace in Mississippi as it pertains to colleges and universities.
In addition to being one of the top colleges and universities in the nation, OnlineColleges.com recognized Northeast as the top school in the state of Mississippi for online education out of all colleges and universities, including four-year colleges and universities.
ZIPPIA has honored Northeast as the top community college in Mississippi in preparing students for the workforce and Northeast became the first college or university to offer a Z-degree (zero textbook cost) degree in the state of Mississippi as well.
Northeast athletics can also boast that it is home to a new ultramodern baseball and softball facility and currently holds the record for largest video boards for both sports in the community college ranks in the state.
The Chronicle of Higher Education has designated the college as one of its 'Best Places to Work For,' and CollegeChoice.net has named Northeast a Top 25 Community and Junior College in the country while The Center for Digital Education has recognized Northeast as a Top 10 Digital Community College in the nation.
Campus Labs recently named Northeast as one of two educational institutions in the nation as a Campus Labs Trailblazer Award honoree. The Campus Labs Trailblazer Award is based on the college creating a culture of assessment on campus through Campus Labs Planning to increase institutional adoption, focus on continuous improvement, and closing the loop in the institutional assessment priorities.
For more information about Northeast Mississippi Community College, visit http://www.nemcc.edu.
Media Attachments
Northeast Mississippi Community College officials have announced that the Booneville-based college has purchased the former Corinthian Furniture building and land at 2100 West Chambers Drive in Booneville so that the college can expand its career and technical education offerings. In addition to the massive career-technical educational complex, college officials are also planning a conference center at the site. With the purchase, Northeast expands its footprint in Prentiss County by 43 acres and 350,000 square feet.