DENTON — Three representatives from Chesapeake College came before the Caroline County Commissioners on July 23 to pitch a new space that will house career and technology education.
They asked the county to support a portion of about $14 million in construction costs, which is to be split between five counties. The counties’ share would account for about 25% of the total cost of constructing the facility, they said. The college hopes to secure state funding for the remaining 75%.
College President Dr. Cliff Coppersmith, Vice President for Workforce and Academic Programs Dr. David Harper and CFO and Facilities Manage Karen Smith presented a short PowerPoint to the commissioners.
Once completed, the facility will support programs like like welding and manufacturing.
“We want to do it right, which means a local focus for the programs,” Harper said. “We have worked really hard with Caroline County businesses and all the the counties we work with. They can look at our labs, curriculum and meet our faculty, who are teaching the classroom, and make sure that what they are teaching and equipment they are using leads to local experiences and jobs.”
Chesapeake College will offer certifications for trades that get students working without the full cost of a college degree. They are proposing to teach advanced manufacturing, welding, fabrication and construction trades, but Harper said they want the space to be flexible so it can change with industry’s needs.
Phase One of the project will be a large space — about 63,000 square feet.
“Identified in our fixed space is agriculture, electrical and welding. In the flexible spaces could be HVAC, advanced manufacturing, construction trades, carpentry and masonry,” Smith said. “And then you have other spaces like the Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and student resources lounge. This is Phase One.”
She said local counties’ match for Phase One would be $14,109,560. Coppersmith said they have approached other counties — Talbot, Queen Anne’s, Kent and Dorchester — to try to raise funds there as well.
Caroline County’s share of that ask, at 19.3%, would be $2.7 million split over three fiscal years. In fiscal year 2026 the design portion would be $183,844. Construction would come in fiscal year FY27 at $2,298,051. Furniture and equipment would come last in FY28 at $241,250.
But not all of the five counties in Chesapeake College’s target area have pledged the funds being requested.
Coppersmith said Dorchester County did not provide a letter of intent committing them to the project.
Lenny Pfeffer, president of the Dorchester County Council, said that he has nothing against Chesapeake College, but that the county already has a “great facility,” The Dorchester Career and Technology Center, which is closer than Chesapeake College’s Wye Mills campus.
He also said money is tight in the county because of The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, an ambitious public education program that many county school districts are grappling with affording.
But Talbot, Kent and Queen Anne’s counties are supportive of the facility, and Coppersmith expects letters of intent from them in the next couple of weeks, he said.
In Caroline County, the commissioners wanted to take some time to talk to their finance team about where the money is going to come from before pledging their support.
Their next meeting is July 23, and they expect to discuss the matter again then.
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