Central Community College Opens Automotive Training Center

Nearly 250 people gathered in Hastings, Neb., for the ribbon-cutting of Central Community College’s Automotive Careers Training Center (ACTC). As of May 7, 2026, the $23 million, 42,000-square-foot facility is fully operational, housing CCC’s auto body technology and automotive technology programs.

The center was designed to give students a realistic shop-floor experience while they train. It includes five classrooms, a welding lab, a parts and tools suite, and dedicated storage for oils and liquids. The new space consolidates hands-on learning under one roof and is built to support modern vehicle repair education.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen spoke at the ceremony and stressed the value of community colleges in building the state’s workforce. He pointed to a recent survey showing that 91 percent of CCC graduates remain in the college’s service area, and nearly 100 percent stay in Nebraska. Pillen said those numbers reflect the strength of local training programs and the opportunities available to students close to home.

“I am a gigantic supporter of the trade skills in our community colleges. I could not be more proud of what our community colleges do for workforce development in creating extraordinary careers,” Pillen said.

Student speaker Jesus Gomez, a second-year automotive technology student, told attendees that his passion for cars started early. He said that passion has grown into a career interest he expects to carry into the workforce.

“This program has taught me many things so far and I can confidently say the skills I have learned will be taken into my professional career,” Gomez said.

He also thanked the donors, planners, and construction crews who made the facility possible. “From the people who made the plans to the people who physically built it, to the donors, this wouldn’t have been possible without the direct support from the community,” Gomez said.

Traci Skalberg, executive director of the Central Community College Foundation, explained how the project came together. She said a brainstorming session in April 2023 brought together industry leaders, architects, and college administrators. The group examined what the facility would need now and how it would need to adapt in five, ten, and twenty years.

“We broke ground in May of 2025 and now, this building is finished and ready to welcome students,” Skalberg said. “That doesn’t happen because of one donor, one organization or one person. It takes a village and it takes community investment.”

One of the industry voices involved from the start was Brian Levander, president of Levander Automotive and a member of the campaign executive leadership team. He said the real measure of the center’s value will be what students accomplish after they leave.

“They will be technicians, the managers, the business owners, instructors and industry leaders of the future,” Levander said. “And if we’ve done our job right, some of them will eventually come back and help the next generation. That’s how an industry grows. That’s how a community grows. One generation helps the next.”

The opening comes at a time when the automotive field is facing a well-documented labor shortage. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects about 60,000 openings each year for automotive service technicians and mechanics over the next decade, driven largely by retirements. Repair shops and dealerships in central Nebraska have increasingly looked to schools like CCC to produce job-ready graduates.

For students, the ACTC offers a direct pathway into work that pays well and remains in demand. For local employers, it creates a reliable pipeline of trained candidates close to the shops that need them. The center’s modern design also gives CCC the flexibility to update its curriculum as vehicles become more computerized and complex.

Central Community College serves a broad region across central Nebraska, and the Hastings campus plays a key role in its career and technical education offerings. With the Automotive Careers Training Center now in place, the college is positioned to prepare the next generation of technicians, shop managers, and industry leaders for years to come.