LSC is investing in new structures on the main campus to relocate and rehome the Manufacturing Workforce Labs to the main campus.
Lake Superior College Integrated Manufacturing Workforce Labs Predesign
“Thank you for your support for Lake Superior College and the Minnesota State system. As you may know, LSC must move its Manufacturing Workforce Labs out of its current rented space. To continue to meet growing demands for our regional manufacturing workforce, LSC is in the process of building new space on the main campus. Our project is included in the Minnesota State budget request to help us continue to meet the workforce needs of our region. This project directly benefits students and our regional economy by continuing to prepare the pipeline of trained talent for regional employers.”
– Dr. Patricia L. Rogers, President of Lake Superior College
Dr. Patricia L. Rogers, President of Lake Superior College
Lake Superior College (LSC) is a comprehensive two-year community and technical college, nationally recognized for quality and affordability, offering nearly 100 programs including liberal arts and sciences courses for transfer, technical and trade programs, allied healthcare and nursing programs and continuing education and customized training for business and industry.
2024-2025 Legislative Request: LSC’s Manufacturing Workforce Labs Predesign Bonding Project received strong bi-partisan support in the 2020 legislative session. However, given shifts in priorities during that session, few Minnesota State projects received funding and LSC’s project was no exception. Since 2020, the building that houses our current manufacturing programs has been sold and LSC must move out. To ensure that LSC and Duluth remain the premier manufacturing training destination in the region, LSC is investing in new structures on the main campus to relocate and rehome the Manufacturing Workforce Labs to the main campus.
As part of the bold strategic investments proposed by Minnesota State, $8M dollars of that investment will support our effort to relocate, expand, and enhance LSC’s manufacturing program to continue to meet regional workforce needs.
Relocating the program back to LSC’s main campus provides state of the art labs, improved access to student services and support, and reduces operating costs by at least $400,000 annually.
Project Details: By relocating the manufacturing program to LSC’s main campus, we enhance the student experience by providing better access to services such as the library, tutoring center, and auxiliary services which are all located on the main campus. With a housing project in the works near main campus, the move helps alleviate the transportation and parking issues associated with the downtown campus. This project also locates the manufacturing programs next to related electronics programs paving the way for a new Robotics and Automated Manufacturing program.
Thank you for your support and advocacy in helping us make Duluth and Lake Superior College the premier manufacturing training destination in Northeast MN, while we continue to help address growing workforce needs in our region.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Al Finlayson, VP of Administration, , (218) 733-7613.
Kyler Waters, from northwest Wisconsin, is another example of a current LSC manufacturing student who toured other programs and campuses, but chose Lake Superior College in Duluth because of the quality of the programs, instructors and equipment, as well as the career opportunities in the Duluth community. LSC continues to help recruit, train and retain manufacturing talent to help address growing manufacturing workforce needs.
Luke Beise, a machine, tool and technology instructor, taught a CNC milling course to a small group of students in the Lake Superior College integrated manufacturing lab last month in a rented downtown Duluth space.
Lake Superior College is part of the Minnesota State system and has more than 5,000 students. Manufacturing program enrollment grew by 7% in the past year.
Lake Superior College wants to expand and relocate its manufacturing campus after years of leasing a downtown facility it says it has outgrown. It is asking the state to invest up to $14 million to make that happen.
Gov. Tim Walz is backing the proposal with about a $1 million bonding request at the Legislature this year to help plan the project. It is expected to cost $12 million to $14 million in state money and take several years to complete.
About 28,000 square feet of space would be renovated and more than 12,000 square feet added for advanced manufacturing, welding, electronic labs and machining. The new space will be better connected to related classes and campus resources — including new on-campus housing, also in the works — and save $165,000 a year, according to Daniel Fanning, vice president for institutional advancement and external relations for Lake Superior College. It will also give the programs room to grow. “The introductory class has doubled in size in the past year,” Fanning said. “To me, that’s pretty symbolic of the future.”
“We’ve currently been leasing space downtown which has worked really great. It’s great to have that connectivity to downtown, but at the same time, we’re starting to outgrow that space and this is also a good opportunity to connect those students to the amenities that we have on our main campus,” Daniel Fanning, Director of External Relations at Lake Superior College said.
“I, as an instructor and someone who has a daughter just starting college, I would want them to be mixed into the life that’s going around, mixed into this world of ideas because that’s the real benefit that comes with this,” Governor Walz said of relocating LSC’s manufacturing campus back to main campus.
“There’s a lot of buzz around manufacturing right now and we’re so lucky to have partners here in Duluth and throughout the community and throughout the region really so the more we can do to continue to support them and to provide that talented workforce to them, the better our economy can continue to grow,” Fanning said.
Governor Walz too, emphasized the role manufacturing plays in Minnesota’s economy—describing it as one of the state’s best kept secrets.
“Duluth speaks with a lot of voice in the state legislature mainly because this is a very important part of Minnesota’s economy and manufacturing is at the heart of it,” Walz said. “When something is made here and shipped to other parts of the world, I think people understand economics well enough to know that, that’s a good thing—that’s job creation here.” Lake Superior College says that manufacturing has grown increasingly more popular over time and that this renovation would help aid them in keeping up with growing enrollment rates. Additionally, Lake Superior College says that much of their older buildings need renovations as is, therefore, this project would fulfill that purpose as well.
