Times Record Editorial: Good work, Stan!

Posted: August 01, 2011 | Education and Cultural Affairs, News Items, Senator Gerzofsky
The Times Record
Editorial
Monday, August 1, 2011

 

Men in suits and hard hats swinging golden sledgehammers isn’t the first image one conjures when thinking about advances in higher education in Maine. But somehow that unorthodox take on a groundbreaking — or was it a wall-breaking? — inspired hope about the future on Tuesday.

Retired Southern Maine Community College President James Ortiz joined Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Steve Levesque and state Sen. Stan Gerzofsky for a ceremonial swipe at a wall in what used to be known as Building 151 at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station.

SMCC took control of Building 151 and another former Navy property Tuesday, with plans to offer as many as 19 classes there beginning next month.

The community college’s new Midcoast Center will reduce waiting lists for post-secondary programs designed to meet Maine’s need for skilled workers. It also aims to cater to firms now establishing themselves at the former base.

If the plan for a symbiotic relationship between SMCC and firms such as Kestrel Aircraft and Resilient Tier V unfolds as envisioned, young people with advanced professional skills will be able to walk off the campus with associate’s or bachelor’s degrees and into new jobs in Brunswick.

As long as SMCC officials keep the program nimble and able to respond quickly to sudden shifts in the demand for new skills, it should be a boon to future redevelopment efforts and to the state as a whole.

And while the hard had, suit and sledgehammer might not rank among his most flattering sartorial ensembles, Gerzofsky merits high praise for recognizing the vital importance of an educational component in the base reuse plan, championing it from the start and finding a creative way to fund the campus.

Good work, Stan!