Published: October 23, 2009 11:03 pm      

New college breaks ground in Mercer

PRINCETON — Bulldozers rumbled in the background and wind whipped up dust as ground was officially broken Friday for a new college campus in Mercer County.

National College is now building a $4.8 million campus near Princeton, its first location in West Virginia. Operations will shift from the college’s present location at Bluefield, Va. to the Princeton location when the campus is completed. Fall 2010 is the tentative opening date.

“It’s going to be a great expansion for us,” said Denver Riffe, who will be the new campus’s director. “We’re looking forward to expanding the educational opportunities in the area.” National College currently has students in Mercer County and cross the Virginia state line in Tazewell, Wythe and Giles counties.

Riffe said no decision had been made about the future of the current Bluefield,Va. campus, but said one would be made by the time the Princeton campus opens.

The new campus will have about 18,000 square feet of space for classrooms, a medical laboratory and an information technology lab. A library, student lounge and administrative offices are included in the plan. The present campus in Bluefield, Va. was an elementary school when it was built in 1922, and has been renovated several times before becoming the National College home in 1981.

Chuck Steenburgh, director of communications for National College, said it was “hard to say” whether the new campus would generate new teaching positions and other jobs, but as the campus adds more students, more instructors and administrators may be needed.

A current student, Tarronda “T.J.” Martin of Bluefield, said the college’s teachers and administrators helped her succeed. She said that at first, she had a bad attitude, but the instructors believed in her potential and helped her build confidence.

“The teachers and staff have a way of making doubts into success,” she said. “The teachers are great. They take care to help.”

Initially, the Princeton campus will offer the same programs now found in Bluefield, Va. These include associate degree programs in administrative office professions, business administration, computer applications, information systems engineering, medical billing and coding, and other programs.

“This is certainly going to be an asset to Princeton, there’s no doubt about that,” said Robert Farley, executive director of the Princeton-Mercer County Chamber of Commerce said. With institutions such Concord University, Bluefield State College and New River Community and Technical College, Mercer County offers a great variety of higher education opportunities, he said.

Companies involved in the construction include K4 Construction, Compton Construction, Mangus Electric, D & M Plumbing, ADT Security Systems and REMAX.