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Friel said while the current building serves its purpose, itòòò½ÊÓƵ™s actually a former bank that has been retrofitted for the manufacturing program. The new building, however, would be built to fit what MAMC does, providing access to technology for manufacturers and a MakerSpace.

òòò½ÊÓƵœThe need for more space is a good problem to have,òòò½ÊÓƵ� said Brandon Dennison, Marshall University vice president of economic and workforce development.

òòò½ÊÓƵœThe reason we have the need is we keep growing, and (MAMC Director Derek Scarbro) and his team keep driving bigger and bigger impact. So thatòòò½ÊÓƵ™s a good kind of problem to have. Iòòò½ÊÓƵ™m always just hesitant to say this will happen or that will happen when weòòò½ÊÓƵ™re still in the early planning stages òòò½ÊÓƵ¦ but Iòòò½ÊÓƵ™m confident MAMC is moving in a good direction, and certainly the vision has always been for MAMC to be a big piece of the Innovation District.òòò½ÊÓƵ�

Last year, it was announced that Marshall received a grant from the Rural Development branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a new MAMC location to be built on 3rd Avenue on the site known as the former ACF property.

This site, Friel said, will be home to the new welding facility for MAMC called the Welding and Robotics Training Center, allowing for all welding instruction to be consolidated on the property with double the current capacity.

Dennison said the new headquarters site in the Innovation District on 4th Avenue would cost a minimum of $20 million. He said it is unclear if, once funding is secured, the current building and its resources would be entirely moved or just expanded into the new facility, but it is clear that more space is needed.

òòò½ÊÓƵœOne of the ways MAMC serves the community is through workforce development. We train more than 900 workers a year in modern demand manufacturing skill sets. And another way we serve the community is by supporting manufacturers and small businesses of all kinds to prototype, to improve their processes and to get their products to the market, which creates local jobs,òòò½ÊÓƵ� Dennison said.

For example, Dennison said any local manufacturer with an idea to create a new part could bring it to MAMC for the staff to 3D print and assess the types of equipment and processes needed to make it a commercial product.

Friel shared a specific case of a company based in the Kanawha Valley called where much of what the company originally sold was made of components manufactured overseas. With help from MAMC, Friel said, the company was able to begin manufacturing all of its parts directly in West Virginia.

òòò½ÊÓƵœFor more than about 34 years now, weòòò½ÊÓƵ™ve been providing not only access to òòò½ÊÓƵ¦ about $24 million worth of advanced technology, but also access to the experienced technical staff we have, the engineers, machinists and other technicians,òòò½ÊÓƵ� Friel said.

Friel said MAMC helps about 300 companies just like Industrial Bolting Technologies each year by providing access to technology for a small fee as opposed to them paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars for equipment.

Beyond expanding MAMCòòò½ÊÓƵ™s capabilities as a community asset, Dennison said having a building directly in the Innovation District would create a synergy with the rest of the university. He said this coordination would happen by combining the research that happens at the school with knowledge of marketing, financing and innovation to turn ideas into products that create local jobs.

òòò½ÊÓƵœSomething else that could be interesting is leveraging the new business school, and again, this idea of supporting entrepreneurs, whether theyòòò½ÊÓƵ™re students or just in the community, to take their ideas and their concepts and actually get that to the point of a tangible prototype to start iterating and improving upon,òòò½ÊÓƵ� Dennison said. òòò½ÊÓƵœSo I think the Innovation District is a way to tie the community and the campus together, and thatòòò½ÊÓƵ™s going to create very exciting, real world opportunities for our students.òòò½ÊÓƵ�

For now, Dennison said the university is working with architects, engineers, Marshall and community leadership to finalize the scale and plans for the building.

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