Salt Lake City-based Archiplex Group designed both buildings.
The Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Utah, along with several local construction crews and officials, celebrated the completion of a new AGC training center in Salt Lake City with a ribbon-cutting ceremony held in November 2021.
The project — a 16,000-sq.-ft., $5 million endeavor — was completed through donations of time, personnel and materials by various contractors and suppliers in Utah. The newly constructed facility is being described as a "construction campus."
"We celebrated the ribbon cutting of our member-owned training center," AGC of Utah said in a statement. "It was a culmination of a vision led by the AGC's board of directors to address one of our industry's most pressing challenges, a qualified workforce. The 16,000-square-foot facility features an auditorium to seat 100, four classrooms, a construction lab with 30-foot-high ceilings, four welding booths, a fall protection tower, a confined space vessel and an entire complement of construction tools, forming systems and safety equipment."
The new facility is located at 2229 South 1070 West, adjacent to AGC of Utah headquarters.
Speakers on hand at the ceremony included Scott Okelberry, Gov. Spencer Cox, Mayor Ron Bigelow, Sen. Karen Mayne, Clay Christensen, attendees, supporters and members and donors that have invested in the industry's future.
AGC of Utah President Rich Thorn is pleased with the results.
"This is an old-fashioned barn raising-type effort," Thorn said. "Our members and friends of the construction industry are really making this happen. There are other facilities like this operated by AGC chapters, but we think this is unique in that it [was] built entirely with donated labor, materials and in-kind donations from our member firms and friends of Utah construction who support what the association does.
"This will be a home for Department of Labor-recognized apprenticeship programs as well as our safety training, continuing education and pre-contractor licensing classes," he added "Members will be able to use this space for their individual company training and meetings too. It will increase our training capacity by almost three-fold. We are forever grateful to see how this thing came together. This is something that will be here for a long time."
General contractor Jacobsen Construction, based in Salt Lake City, played a role in the construction of the new training center.
"We were glad to join AGC of Utah at the ribbon cutting of their new Training Center," Jacobsen said in a statement. "This superb facility will strengthen the development of Utah's proud construction workforce, providing the latest resources for apprenticeship programs, licensing education and other training opportunities.
Darin Zqik, president and CEO of Zwick Construction, who was on-hand at the original groundbreaking in June 2020, added, "The AGC hopes that this new facility will provide training to new entrants to the field, as well as specialized training to more experienced workers. They plan to use AI, virtual reality, BIM and more … This will become a new home for the future workers in the construction industry and a great asset for those who will continue to build our industry and our state."
The two-acre site in a West Valley City office park is bordered by the Jordan River and the river trail on one side, faces the street on the west and includes parking for both the training facility and the AGC of Utah building.
Salt Lake City-based Archiplex Group designed both buildings, which are similar in appearance and materials. "This building is really the vison of the members. We just put the lines on paper, but it will be a great, complementary building to the headquarters and make this a cohesive campus," said Archiplex Group's Preston Croxford. CEG
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