NEW ORLEANS — Mayor LaToya Cantrell today joined other officials and community leaders in breaking ground on the New Orleans Career Center, a nonprofit initiative providing high school and adult students access to career and technical education training and academic coursework to earn industry-based credentials (IBCs) for employment in high-wage, high-demand industry sectors.
“This morning, I joined the New Orleans School Board, community and state representatives in celebrating the groundbreaking for the New Orleans Career Center (NOCC). NOCC will train and prepare Orleans Parish high school students and adults for high-demand and high-wage careers. This investment in our youth will diversify our economy in order to move the needle for our people around economic mobility. A strong workforce makes a stronger New Orleans,” said Mayor Cantrell.
[WATCH: New Orleans Career Center groundbreaking]
The NOCC’s new facility is an innovative career and technical education (CTE) campus located at 1331 Kerlerec St. Once complete in late Fall 2022, the new NOCC will have capacity to train approximately 1,000 New Orleans public high school students and adults each year across six high-demand, high-wage career pathways. The building, which originally housed McDonogh 35 High School, is being completely revamped to comprise more than 143,000 square feet of purpose-built space.
The $26.9 million LEED-certified facility is among the last to be completed under the Louisiana Department of Education Recovery School District and Orleans Parish School Board School Facilities Master Plan funded by FEMA and CDBG (Community Development Block Grants) after Hurricane Katrina.
“Since NOCC opened the doors in fall of 2018, our growth has been constrained by space. This year, our partner high schools are asking to place more students with us than ever before, because they know the quality and effectiveness of our programs,” said NOCC Founding Executive Director Claire Jecklin. “In the new building, we’ll be able to offer our rigorous, real-world career prep to even more high school students. We’ll be able to work with more employers to design rapid adult training programs and apprenticeships to meet workforce needs. More New Orleanians will have the knowledge, the networks, and the necessary certifications or college credits to secure good jobs that contribute to a thriving and inclusive local economy.”
Mayor Cantrell joined a host of other officials, including Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr., Superintendent, NOLA Public Schools; Dana Peterson, Board Chairman, New Orleans Career Center; Kay LeSage, Director of Economic Development & Infrastructure, Louisiana Office of Community Development; Royce Duplessis, Louisiana House of Representatives, District 93; Michael Hecht, President & CEO, Greater New Orleans, Inc.; Annie Cambria, Recovery School District; Khaija Faulk, Medical Assistant, Ochsner; and OPSB members Katie Baudouin, District 5; Dr. J.C. Wagner Romero, District 4; and John Brown, District 1.
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