Southwestern Illinois College is adding a new skilled trade programming to its Red Bud campus with a new 7,800 square-foot Career Technology Education building.

Construction begins Friday, and students are set to start using the CTE building in Spring 2026. The $5.5 million project, financed through bonds sold a few years ago, will house welding and industrial electricity programming, plus forklift training.

“Throughout this project, we just didn’t say ‘this is what we need to do,’ we very much listened to our community and our business partners,” said Robert Tebbe, SWIC’s chief enrollment development and institutional planning officer.

Red Bud Industries , along with many manufacturers nationwide, need welders and there’s a growing need for individuals with forklift certificates in SW

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