Trade schools report rapid enrollment growth; SEMCA buying 100,000 sq. ft. Sterling Heights campus

Chair Jenkins Arnold called the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor and Economic Opportunity to order and heard presentations from industry-built trade schools about rapid enrollment growth and new training facilities intended to meet Michigan’s skilled-trades workforce needs.

The most immediate development came from the Southeast Michigan Construction Academy (SEMCA), which said its board is purchasing a 100,000-square-foot former call center in Sterling Heights and plans a roughly $10,000,000 investment to convert it into classrooms and more than 12,000 square feet of shop space. Keith Ledbetter, president and CEO of SEMCA, said the facility will provide space for more than 400 parking spaces and more than a dozen classrooms, and that the new campus is expected to serve over 400 students by early September.

“Construction company owners in Southeast Michigan decided nearly 40 years ago that there weren't enough young adults coming out of high school who were prepared for jobs in construction,” Ledbetter said, summarizing SEMCA’s origins and growth. He told the committee SEMCA grew from 186 students at a single Madison Heights location to approximately 750 students across five campuses in Madison Heights, Westland, Monroe, Holly and Lapeer.

Deanna Morley, vice president of SEMCA, described the school’s “earn-while-you-learn” model and said most students work full time while attending…