Carroll Community College will cut the ribbon Monday, Oct. 19, on its new Ratcliffe Applied Technology and Trades Center, a 10,000-square-foot skilled trades training facility at 110 Airport Drive in Westminster. The ceremony starts at 3 p.m.
The center will hold labs for welding, automotive technology, electrical work and plumbing, according to a news release the college issued Oct. 13. The college says it currently has waitlists in automotive technology and welding, and the added space is meant to let more students into those programs sooner.
“This center represents a bold investment in our students, our employers, and the economic future of Carroll County,” Dr. Rose Mince, the college’s president, said in the release. She said the center will give more students hands-on training for “meaningful, family-sustaining careers” and help local employers find skilled workers.
A temporary home off campus
The center is not on the college’s main campus at 1601 Washington Road. It occupies leased space in a one-story industrial building on Airport Drive, off Route 97 north of downtown and about 6 miles from the main campus. The college signed the lease this summer with Tevis Inc., The Daily Record reported in July, citing MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate, the brokerage that handled the deal.
Airport Drive was not the first site the college picked. In September 2024, the college announced it had leased 15,000 square feet for the center at the Coppermine Pantherplex in Hampstead, the former North Carroll High School. The college’s announcements since then do not explain why the center ended up in Westminster instead.
The college calls it a “bridge facility.” It will be used until the college can build a permanent Trades, Training and Technology Complex on its main campus, according to the release. The release does not say when that complex might be built or how it would be paid for.
Labs were designed with input from local tradespeople to look and work like real job sites, with industry-standard equipment and tools, the college says.
The college has also brought in the electricians’ union as a partner. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee, which runs the union’s apprenticeship training with electrical contractors, will offer a daytime electrical apprenticeship program at the center, according to the release.
Paying for it
The center is supported by a $2.8 million grant from the Philip E. and Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation, which the college first announced in July 2024. The foundation supports colleges and nonprofits that train people for skilled trades or help them start businesses.
Beyond the building, the grant funds a program the college calls Ratcliffe Works: Building Skills, Creating Futures, which offers students scholarships, stipends, tools and help finding jobs. On its website, the college says Ratcliffe Works programs are fully funded, covering tuition, fees and certification testing. Some students may also qualify for stipends and free toolkits.
The center also drew federal support. Carroll received $850,000 in fiscal 2026 Congressionally Directed Spending to equip the center. Members of Congress request that kind of federal funding for specific projects back home. The college celebrated the award with a ceremonial check presentation on March 31. The Carroll Community College Foundation, the college’s fundraising arm, is also contributing, The Daily Record reported.
What students will learn
The center will start with four programs: welding, automotive technology, electrical and plumbing. The college’s fact sheet calls them the “initial program focus” and says the space is designed to change as workforce needs do. The college already runs electrical, HVAC and plumbing apprenticeship programs on its main campus.
Who’s speaking Monday
The program is scheduled to include:
Dr. Rose Mince, president of Carroll Community College
Dr. Kelly Koermer, the college’s vice president of Workforce, Business and Community Education
Sherri-Le Bream, a member of the college’s Board of Trustees
Carlene Cassidy, president of the Ratcliffe Foundation
Robin Summerfield, regional director for Western Maryland for U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, speaking on the senator’s behalf
Portia Wu, Maryland’s secretary of labor
U.S. Rep. Johnny Olszewski, whose 2nd Congressional District includes most of Carroll County
Wyatt Runciman, an automotive technology student at the college
The ribbon-cutting and tours of the building will follow the speeches.
People who want to see the center can schedule a tour beginning in December by calling 410-386-8100 or emailing [email protected], according to the center’s page on the college website.
Featured photo via Carroll Community College media relations webpage.