After a few years of sitting empty, the former Child Development Center and Lab School is about to come alive again. OCCC’s Institute for Professional Development is scheduled to relocate to the building by the spring 2014 semester.

Community Development Vice President Steven Bloomberg said construction costs are currently being looked at.

“We need to know what the remodel costs are before we do anything else,” Bloomberg said. “So we’re in this part of the process right now where we’re trying to identify what those costs will be then make a determination from there.”

Bloomberg said the move will mean positive changes for the Professional Development Institute whose staff has been temporarily housed on the third floor of the Main Building for the past 18 months. The move, he said “provides an additional degree of flexibility for us to offer classes to our business partners.

“We currently do not control any classroom space, so by moving into the former Child Development Center, it will give us the opportunity to offer courses when businesses need them,” Bloomberg said. “There are times businesses need courses where we may be on peak hours here at the college and there aren’t rooms available to conduct training, so this will actually give us space we can utilize for this purpose whether it’s during the day, in the evenings, on the weekends.”

Bloomberg said the Professional Development Center at OCCC works with businesses and industries to provide customized education solutions or, working with non-profits for profits.

“If a business comes to us with an issue with our workforce, our job is to find an intervention, apply that intervention successfully and then provide those employees with training.”

Bloomberg said several factors went into the decision to move.

“As college we generate revenue through tuition and fees, and we have money from the state that helps underwrite our cost but we also have to find additional sources of revenue,” he said. “So by moving this entity to the Child Development Center, it gives us a chance to generate revenue.”

Bloomberg said it’s important students know about the area.

“We do a lot of different training,” he said. “In some of our past programs we’ve actually had OCCC students participating, so there’s opportunities for our students as well,” he said. “I think by moving to this facility, not only do we help business and industry, but there’s specific programs we help students too.

“I want our students to know we’re here for them as well. It’s a great opportunity for everybody.”

For more information contact the Profession Development center at 682-7562.