(Seguin) — Seguin is getting another major institution of higher learning. The community already boasts an award-winning campus at Texas Lutheran University. It will now also be the home to the state’s newest Texas State Technical College campus.
The new TSTC campus in Seguin was officially announced yesterday.
It will be built along State Highway 46 near Cordova Road.
Although T-S-T-C currently leases space for many of its programs over at the Central Texas Technology Center near the New Braunfels Municipal Airport in northern Guadalupe County, the workforce development college has chosen to not only expand its offerings there, but to also establish a brand-new campus in Seguin.
Josh Schneuker, executive director of the Seguin Economic Development Corporation (SEDC), says landing this campus is an incredibly big deal and a game changer for this entire part of the state.
“A facility like this you know, there’s not one within any area around Seguin. The closest TSTC campus is going to be up in Williamson County on the far northern side of the Austin Metro area and that’s about it. It took a lot of work for us to get TSTC legislative approval to expand their service territory into Comal and Guadalupe County and at the end of the day, these future TSTC students across our region are going to have the opportunity to get a high wage, high demand occupation with very little college debt tied to that and our manufacturers – all the different companies – that rely on this very specific and specialized technical training — I know they’ve got to be very excited today with this news,” said Schneuker.
Schneuker says the TSTC Seguin campus will benefit Seguin, New Braunfels and surrounding communities for years to come.
He says this strategic move strengthens the college’s commitment to addressing regional workforce needs.
Plus, he says it will empower individuals to transform their lives, by acquiring the skills and trades necessary to succeed in life.
“The programs that they offer really align almost perfectly with the industry that we have here in Seguin and throughout the region. Seguin is a blue-collar community and TSTC is great at providing technical training programming for those blue-collar type industries so your manufacturing, your construction industry, your welders, your HVAC technicians, your plumbers, your electricians — those are vital occupations especially in a rapidly growing area like Seguin and Guadalupe County. So, to be able to have that training in our backyard by reputable training providers and TSTC is huge. It’s going to provide our residents here in Seguin and across the region with the opportunity to probably in some cases – change the lives of people,” said Schneuker.
The announcement aligns with the city’s economic development master plan.
Schneuker says this new campus will serve as a catalyst for economic growth by drawing more people to live and work in Seguin.
“It’s also going to help out and be a recruitment tool for us as well. One of the big things that companies are looking for when they are doing site selection to maybe placing a manufacturing facility in Seguin or somewhere else, it’s not the financial incentives, it’s looking at does that area have the labor to support us and does that labor have the skills sets needed for the occupations that our facility is going to have in place there? Being able to leverage those programs and different offerings that TSTC has, in my mind, is just a win for everybody,” said Schneuker.
While the blueprints for the campus now, are currently preliminary, Schneuker says the actual start up for construction is still in the works.
“In terms of building the new campus and the timeline of these buildings going up, there’s going to be a lot of work done at the upcoming state legislative session. I know TSTC is going to be looking at having dollars allocated towards construction costs for a new campus and I know that that is something that all of our stakeholders across Seguin and Guadalupe County and throughout the region will be supporting as well as our business community and then I think kind of going from there, once we get out of the legislative session, we should have a firmer grasp on the timeline associated with the development of the new campus,” said Schneuker.
TSTC’s main campus is in Waco, but it also operates campuses across the state.
For nearly 60 years, TSTC has worked to help strengthen the Texas workforce, offering highly skilled, technically competent trades.
The college offers a unique funding model that is based on their student employment outcomes.
To learn more about T-S-T-C, visit tstc.edu.