Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (May 10, 2017)
CHANGING LANDSCAPES I 4 Clackamas Print MAY 10,2017 theclackamasprint.com B U M S Left: A map of the Beavercreek Employment Area shows the college between two development sites. Top Right: Trees come down outside DeJardin on Monday. Bottom Right: Donald Wallis removes the trunk of a felled tree. BY COLLIN BEREND He added, “ The goal of the BEA is to create a vertica lly in tegrated system th at delivers skilled w orkers to local businesses and create fam ily wage jo b s, as an end result. The BEA project w ill help CCC educate students on demand.” For over 50 years, th e college has provided job training and education to students who have made differences in this region ’ s w orkforce, according to Public Information Officer Lori Hall. “ The purpose o f the in itiative is to encourage and attract targeted industry by leveraging education and training buildings. There are currently two development resources at CCC,” said Hall. “ As large sites. Once finished, if bo th are sold businesses move into the BEA, we cannot only provide them educated employees and built upon, the sm all fo rest that surrounds the co llege in cludin g the w ho are jo b-read y at the tim e of hire, main one between the high school and but we can also offer customized training specific to a business and help grow their the college, w ill be removed. To this effect, Oregon City’ s economy existing workforce.” a A new transit project is included in the w ill increase w ith the potential for jobs to open near the college. This will impact BEA. This new transit center removes the the college and students because of a stark existing bus turn around at the flag pole by Roger Rook and, instead, provides a close location to these businesses. “ There’ s no way to absolutely predict new entrance at the south endof campus th e fu tu re econ o m ic im p a c t,” said behind DeJardin Hall and connects to the main CCC entrance off of Molalla Ave. and th e D irector o f th e Sm all B usin ess Trails End Highway. Development Center Robert Campbell, The transit project is paid by a grant regarding the economic impact of the BEA. “ But I do have an opinion regarding how the college had p reviously requested and got awarded to im prove access to this project w ill create value to industry, CCC and support job development in the our ca re er and tech n ica l education Clackamas County area. students, the region and the college.” A grow in g econ o m y is a b e n e fit to everyone in Oregon City and students at Clackamas Community College. CCC is p artnerin g up w ith the city o f O regon C ity and the O regon City Chamber of Commerce in promoting the Beavercreek Employment Area, which is more than 80 acres of available industrial property. The property includes the sea of trees that divides Oregon City High School and CCC,/as w ell as the farm land to the northeast across Beavercreek Road. This area w ill eventually be occupied by The gran t provid es $ i.?6 m illio n fro m th e O rego n D e p a rtm en t o f T ra n sp o rta tio n ’ s C on nectO regon VI Program to pay for the improved transit center on campus. The grant will also pay for a.shared-use path, wayfinding signage and a secure bicycle parking, granting better access to the adjacent Oregon City High School, since the existing one is a rocky path, shrouded by trees, that is often used by the community and students from both schools. In addition, this improves access to the planned BEA. “ Our goal is to m ake it easier for employees to reach the employment area,” said Luke Norman, the transportation system s analyst. “ W hether they walk, ride a bike or take the bus.” According to the 2016 transportation survey, 21 percent of students cited the lack of access to a car as the main issue for completing one or more classes. “ W e are excited by the opportunity th e transit center provides to expand transportation options for stu d en ts,” said Norman. The new transit center project is part of the DeJardin expansion. It is currentlyin preliminary design, and if the schedule followed is the same as Harmony West and ITC, then it should A constructed around spring 2018 w ith Completion in latest of summer 2019.
