Pioneer Career & Technology Center cuts ribbon on Advanced Mfg. Center

SHELBY — Students like Miley Litteral are already preparing to fill Ohio’s growing demand for skilled workers.

A senior in Pioneer Career and Technology Center’s industrial maintenance program, Litteral is gaining hands-on experience reflecting the needs of today’s workforce.

“My father’s a carpenter, so I grew up around someone already in the trade,” she said. “I saw what it did for him, and I look up to my dad, so that definitely pushed me toward something hands-on.”

After touring the program, Litteral said the opportunities drew her in.

“I saw a lot of opportunity, especially with wiring and hydraulics, so I gravitated toward it,” she said.

Litteral described a hydraulic setup she built that relies on fluid pressure to power a motor, a system where precision is key.

“It’s all about input and output,” Litteral said. “If everything is done correctly, the motor runs and a blue ribbon spins. If not, you’ll hear it — and one of the wires will jerk.”

New facility expands opportunities

Litteral is among the students already benefiting from Pioneer’s newly unveiled Advanced Manufacturing Center, which was celebrated Wednesday afternoon with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Leaders, educators and state officials gathered to celebrate the facility, made possible through a $6.6 million grant aimed at expanding career-technical education.

“We’re so proud to officially open our new Advanced Manufacturing Center, a facility that represents innovation, opportunity and the future of workforce development in our region,” Supt. Greg Nickoli said. “While today marks our official ribbon cutting, this facility has actually been in operation since this past November.”

Students have already been learning and training in the space for months, gaining hands-on experience before its official opening, he said.

Nickoli credited Ohio’s Career Tech Expansion Grant — part of the state’s 2023 budget — for making the project possible, calling it a transformational investment in education and workforce readiness.

Of the 59 applicants statewide, 35 schools were awarded a total of nearly $200 million. Pioneer was the only Richland County school to receive funds.

The renovation transformed the 14,000-square-foot building, which once housed the industrial maintenance program along with buses and a repair station, into a space that now includes the industrial maintenance lab, a relocated precision machining lab and a new welding lab — all under one roof.

For students like Litteral, the updated space has already improved the learning experience.

“The new building definitely gives more room to work,” she said. “In the old lab, it was very tight, and you were constantly bumping shoulders with everybody.”

She said the added space allows students to work more independently and structure their work in a way that mirrors real job environments.

“It’s a lot more similar to an actual work environment because you have the space to do what you need to get done,” she said.

Meeting workforce demand

Board President Doug Theaker said the expansion responds directly to a growing demand for skilled labor.

“We are preparing young people to go out into society and fulfill what is sorely needed in America, and that is skills,” Theaker said. “We need skilled workers badly.”

He also credited the team behind the program.

“We have a fantastic superintendent and administrative staff, instructors, cooks, janitors — the whole nine yards,” he said. “They’re the people that are making this possible.”

(Images during the special remarks and guests speakers. Provided by Katie Ellington-Serrao)

Regional Manufacturing Coalition President Zoi Romanchuk emphasized the urgency, noting many career tech programs across Ohio are already at capacity.

“These are careers that are sorely needed,” Romanchuk said. “They will stay with you forever and help the country grow.”

State Rep. Riordan McClain (R-Nevada) said the center reflects a broader shift in workforce preparation.

“We’re truly in the beginning stages of another sort of world revolution — the AI revolution, the information revolution,” McClain said.

While information is widely available, practical skills are not, he said.

“What is not as easily accessible is the hard work and learning the skills — how to do tangible things for your community,” McClain said.

For Litteral, those tangible skills are already shaping her future. She encourages other students to keep an open mind.

“Sometimes making one simple decision can change the path you go down,” she said. “I feel Pioneer gives you the opportunity to either get a job your senior year or leave high school with more of a plan than you had before.”

(Photos from the advanced manufacturing center ribbon cutting. Credit: Hannah Martin)