Germanna Community College and its Educational Foundation thanked the Stafford Economic Development Authority for its support in bringing a new campus to the county during a check presentation ceremony on Tuesday, November 29.
The Stafford EDA presented the GCC Real Estate Foundation with a check for $750,000 toward the new campus at 25 Center Street in North Stafford, off Garrisonville Road.
Germanna President Janet Gullickson said the support of the Stafford EDA was essential to making it possible for the college to acquire its new $15 million Center of Educational Excellence at Center Street, set to open for classes in 2024.
Noting that nearly 80 percent of Germanna graduates remain in the area to put skills they’ve learned to use here, Gullickson said, “county residents and business people can count on Germanna and its graduates to help Stafford thrive for decades to come.”
“The Stafford EDA made a commitment to support Germanna’s expansion in Stafford years ago,” Stafford EDA Chairman Joel Griffin said, “and it is a pleasure to see this day come to fruition. With this expansion, Germanna will continue and expand its services to Stafford citizens, business,es and residents across our region, Northern Virginia, and the Commonwealth.”
Griffin said during Tuesday’s ceremony that the EDA “has really focused on workforce development. Germanna is a tremendous partner in that initiative. The nursing program and cybersecurity program Germanna offers to our community is first class –and I don’t mean for our region I mean across the nation. These are jobs that support our national security. I think COVID has brought to the forefront nurses and what they do every single day. So on behalf of the EDA, I’m very proud to represent to say that we are delighted about this partnership. We hope to see many more years of collaboration and work.”
Gullickson told the crowd at Tuesday’s ceremony: “We will transform this neighborhood. For example, this building will have a [free] wellness clinic where people can come in and get diabetes checks or get blood pressure tests and get some dental exams here…”
“The shortage of frontline healthcare professionals is real,” Gullickson told the crowd. She said that every year Germanna has 1,000 students apply to enter its nursing program and has to turn many away. She said the new facilities will help GCC meet its goal of doubling the number of nurses graduated each year from 200 to 400.
Two buildings, named the Barbara J. Fried Center at 10 Center St. and the Kevin L. Dillard Health Sciences Center at 25 Center St., totaling over 74,000 square feet, will meet Germanna’s space requirements in Stafford for years to come, said Jack Rowley, also president of GCC’s Real Estate Foundation.
In 2018, Germanna leased an 18,921-square-foot building in Stafford that more than tripled the space available at a 5,000-square-foot GCC center opened at Aquia in 2009. The new facilities will more than triple that existing space.
Germanna will continue to offer classes at its Barbara J. Fried Center near Stafford Hospital until the Center Street campus opens.
