“Each facility represents opportunity,” said Dr. Ashanti Holley, Superintendent of the Burlington County Institute of Technology School District. “Opportunity for our students to learn in spaces that mirror the industries that they will one day lead.” BCIT recently completed a major expansion and renovation project at its Westampton campus and celebrated the improvements with a ribbon-cutting on Oct. 2.
The Burlington County Institute of Technology (BCIT) recently completed a major expansion and renovation project at its Westampton campus and celebrated the improvements with a ribbon-cutting on Oct. 2. The ceremony commemorated the completion of the 39,000-square-foot expansion and improvement project.
“This summer we completed an expansion that is just more than bricks and mortar,” said Dr. Ashanti Holley, Superintendent of the Burlington County Institute of Technology School District.
That expansion, Holley said, reflects this year’s theme for BCIT: “Every student, every day.” A promise, she added, to prepare the school’s students for the careers of tomorrow.
“Each facility represents opportunity,” Holley said. “Opportunity for our students to learn in spaces that mirror the industries that they will one day lead. Opportunities to gain the skills, the confidence and vision to thrive in a very competitive world … At BCIT we are not just building classrooms. We are building pathways to innovation, to opportunity and achievement …
“We are just scratching the surface, and there’s so much more to come.”
The improvements include expanded classroom space, large logistics training area and a new diesel engine garage. The upgrades will enhance the education and training opportunities in the school’s career and technical education programs for automotive technology; heavy equipment and diesel technology; and global business and supply chain management. The expansion will also permit an additional 100 students to enroll in these programs.
Construction on the $14 million project was funded predominantly with state grant funding from the Securing Our Children’s Future Bond Act. The law appropriated approximately $350 million for county vocational expansion from a $500 million bond referendum approved by New Jersey voters in 2018.
State Sen. Troy Singleton and New Jersey Assemblywoman Carol Murphy were both co-sponsors of the bond act. The law also provided BCIT with funding for an $8 million expansion project at the school district’s Medford campus on Hawkin Road. That project was completed earlier this year and included improvements to the school’s welding and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) shops and the creation of a new video game design lab. Burlington County also contributed funding towards the expansion projects at both vocational schools.
“There is this stigma that is oftentimes associated with vocational education that is so outdated and misplaced that it encourages us to keep pushing back against its element,” Singleton said. “Our state, our country and our world needs incredibly talented individuals in the career and technical space. We need folks to do all the tasks that we talk about – and so much more – that are being created here at BCIT over in Medford and Westampton.
“It is incumbent upon our educational structure to provide top-notch facilities for individuals to achieve those goals.”
