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From left, Kim Ziebarth, associate commissioner for technical education at the Utah System of Higher Education; trustee Jeremy Hafen; Utah Sen. Mike McKell; Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson; Mountainland Technical College President Clay Christensen; Sheila Michaelis of Payson South Meadows Partners; and Payson Mayor Bill Wright shovel dirt during a groundbreaking ceremony for construction of a new MTECH campus in Payson on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023.

Nichole Whiteley, Daily Herald

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Sheila Michaelis, with developer Payson South Meadows Partners, speaks about the importance of a Mountainland Technical College campus in Payson during the groundbreaking celebration for MTECH's new Payson campus on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023.

Nichole Whiteley, Daily Herald

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Cowboy hat-shaped hard hats and shovels are set at a table in preparation for the groundbreaking of the Mountainland Technical College campus in Payson on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. The campus will open in the spring of 2025.

Nichole Whiteley, Daily Herald

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Mountainland Technical College President Clay Christensen sits in the cab of an excavator during a groundbreaking ceremony for construction of a new MTECH campus in Payson on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023.

Nichole Whiteley, Daily Herald

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Finishing just in time for the rain to pour down, Mountainland Technical College on Friday celebrated the groundbreaking for its new 13.5-acre campus in Payson that will open in the spring of 2025. The new school further expands MTECH’s footprint in the Utah Valley, with other facilities located in Lehi, Provo, Orem, Spanish Fork, Heber City and Salt Lake City.

Despite rain clouds in the sky, every seat was full and more people stood behind to hear the plans for the new campus.

Donning cowboy hard hats, various groups including Clay Christensen, president of MTECH, the college’s board of trustees and MTECH employees turned over the ground to begin the construction of the Payson campus.

Also attending were sponsors, partners and supporters of MTECH including Layton Construction, Utah County Commissioner Amelia Powers Gardner, state Sen. Mike McKell, Payson Mayor Bill Wright, state Rep. Doug Welton and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson.

Next year will be MTECH’s 35th anniversary as a standalone institution and this last May there were over 2,400 students who graduated. Comparing the college today to 20 years ago, Christensen said 16 study programs were offered in 2003, there were 77 employees and MTECH owned none of its square footage. Today, there are 43 programs, and 578 employees working at sites covering 452,000 square feet.

Christensen recognized three groups who have gotten the school to this point of success: the MTECH employees, the board of trustees and “most importantly” the students and alumni.

According to Christensen, MTECH chose to build its next campus in Payson because there is a demand of students wanting to participate in the programs it offers. He said they have also gotten immense support to bring the technical college to the city. Developer Payson South Meadows Partners donated all of the land the campus will be built on, which is priced at over $7 million, making it the largest known donation to a technical college in the state of Utah, Christensen added.

“That’s a huge donation,” he said. “That sends a story to the Legislature, it sends a story to the community, it sends a story to the taxpayers that, ‘Hey, this is important.'”

Sheila Michaelis has lived in Payson all her life and spoke at the groundbreaking on behalf of Payson South Meadows Partners. “We think MTECH is just the perfect addition, not only for our project, but for Payson city and for the surrounding communities, and we feel for generations to come it’s going to be a huge benefit,” she said.

The new campus will start with one main building until three more are built. The 90,000-square-foot main building will house four programs until they are moved to the other buildings over time. The four program areas that will be offered are trades, health care, information technology and the service industry. As demand for other programs increases, Christensen said they will be added to the Payson campus and other branch campuses of Lehi, which is the main campus. He added that he thinks apprenticeship will be a large portion of the campus due to demand from students in the area.

In 2021, the state Legislature funded a comprehensive MTECH campus in Payson, but the construction of the campus was delayed due to a statewide pause on capital construction. The delay is over and the campus will now be built, assisting in solving the workforce demand in Payson.

The new campus is expected to help solve reported workforce demands in Payson and surrounding communities. According to data from JobsEQ and the Utah Department of Workforce Services presented in a press release about the groundbreaking, there are 2,100 job openings in the Payson area related to MTECH fields of study. It is also estimated that, over the next decade, the region will see 26% growth in the manufacturing sector, 46.7% in health care, 30.6% in transportation, 31.7% in construction, 35.3% in food services and 28.9% in technology.

Henderson thanked everyone who has and will help in moving MTECH forward and has worked together to “make sure that people in the state of Utah have every opportunity, that our young people have every opportunity not just to get a good education, but to thrive in the economy, to do what they love, to find things that are meaningful to them, to improve their lives and the lives of everyone around us in our community.”

The entire project cost is $56 million, apart from the $7 million land donation. Christensen said they also have many donations from private businesses including Norco, who provides 90% of the welding supplies used at the campuses and will provide supplies for the Payson campus and the campus in Heber City that will have a groundbreaking in the spring.

Christensen explained while the campus is a large investment, the return will greatly benefit the community. He said what he loves about their accreditation process is, “We have to maintain and exceed national rates for completion, placement and licensure,” elaborating that MTECH is required to have more than 70% of its students placed in related occupations to their program or continue in a related educational program after graduation.

“As a legislator, I feel confident in our institutions here and I feel confident MTECH is a great investment,” McKell said. “It’s an investment for students with an immediate return. It’s a return on our community. It’s responsive to the needs in our community. I look forward to seeing what MTECH can do with this new facility and how they can continue to be responsive to the needs.”

Welton shared a quote with the audience: “‘Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire.’ Think about that for a moment. We’re not just pouring facts into heads. We’re igniting sparks, spreading flames of curiosity and ambition that will drive our community forward. So, as we break ground today, let’s carry this quote with us in our minds. Let’s remember that we’re not just building structures. We’re sparking flames that will light up our community for generations. Let’s dig in not just for the foundations we’re creating, but for the dreams we’re nurturing and the opportunities we’re creating. Let’s light that flame.”

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