News

Local students looking for training and education in agriculture and industrial technology fields have long looked to Merced College to find the next step on their journey. Now they have a new, state-of-the-art facility in which to learn and grow.

A new initiative promises to bring the San Joaquin Valley's agriculture industry into the future, with creative and innovative advancements in agricultural technology, engineering, and workforce training and education.

Community members and dignitaries gathered at Merced College on Thursday to celebrate a major milestone in the construction of the college's new Raj Kahlon Agriculture and Industrial Technology Complex.

Merced College last week was awarded a $3 million construction renovation grant from the Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA). The grant, along with the last of the 2002 Measure H Bond funds, will provide over $9 million to renovate and modernize the Vocational Building near the center of the Merced campus.

Merced College will break ground May 26 on the 29,000-square-foot Raj Kahlon Agriculture and Industrial Technology Complex, kicking off construction of the first new building on campus in more than a decade.