On April 10, 2024, Buckeye Hills Career Center (BHCC) proudly held a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the construction phase of its new CDL & Heavy Diesel Lab Training Complex. This facility is part of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Grant, which BHCC successfully secured with a grant of $1.5 million. The Gallia-Jackson-Vinton Joint Vocational School District Board of Education awarded the contract for the construction of the facility to Randy Evans Construction Company, LLC, and construction work began on March 12, 2024. We expect that the complex will be completed in late summer or early fall of 2024.

The new CDL & Heavy Diesel Lab Training Complex will be home to the Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) and Ag & Heavy Equipment Technician programs. Thanks to our partnership with Destiny Truck Driving Academy, we are proud to offer CDL training entirely at the BHCC main campus in Rio Grande, Ohio, making it one of the largest CDL training facilities in the region. Alongside that, the new complex will also house BHCC’s current Ag & Heavy Equipment Technician program, which will prepare students for careers in heavy diesel mechanics.

We are excited to announce that BHCC will hold a second groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday, May 7th, 2024, at 2:00 pm to celebrate the beginning of construction of an additional new facility. This facility will house Broadband, Telecommunications, Power Lineman, and Heavy Equipment Operator programs in partnership with Thayer Power & Communication and Local 18 International Union of Operating Engineers. The programs will create a growing employment sector throughout the region and Ohio, and we are thrilled to be at the forefront of this initiative.