... It's high tech, cutting edge and developed to meet regional workforce needs so students can "learn and then earn" in the Mid-Ohio Valley ...

Preparing for a Global Economy.  West Virginia University at Parkersburg, Wood County Schools and area business, industry and labor are collaborating as partners to prepare and develop the  region's workforce to meet the needs of current and potential employers.   The Caperton Center for Applied Technology offers the best the region has to offer in instruction and training for those interested in the challenges of sophisticated technology careers:

• Wood County Schools' high school students can pursue college programs while in high school and earn college credit while enrolled in the Caperton Center. 
• WVU Parkersburg students can obtain associate and bachelor's degrees at the Center. 
• Area residents can upgrade and learn in-demand skills -- all through the Center's flexible offerings.

The Center is lauded as a unique facility where high school and college students share classrooms, faculty and a cutting-edge curriculum.  This is a new response to providing students with the skills and training they need to be successful in preparing for the future. 

A Responsive Partnership 
The Parkersburg area is positioned to respond to workforce training needs. The Caperton Center for Applied Technology offers a flexible delivery system of training to meet the changing needs of the workplace whether it be preparation of new employees or skill upgrading of current workers. 

The partnership of education, business, industry and labor is committed to delivering a comprehensive and coordinated program of workforce preparation which results in workers who function effectively in an increasingly technological workplace. 

A Collaborative Design.  As partners, the Parkersburg area's public secondary and higher education institutions and the private sector have joined together to develop a new model for workforce training.  The collaborative design focuses on an educational environment in which students can grow in ways necessary to be highly valued employees with toolboxes of skills and knowledge upon which to build advanced capabilities.  The model's main components include:

• a responsiveness to community, business and labor needs
• skill training and preparation designed to be flexible in meeting workforce needs and a basic adaptable technology core of courses to build job specific knowledge, skills and training
• innovative workforce training partnerships
• a seamless delivery system where students enter into training programs with an uninterrupted route through college
• a shared 60,000-square-foot facility which features task specific technology classrooms and flexible training areas

Located on the WVU Parkersburg campus, the two-story Caperton Center for Applied Technology  has been designed so that noise producing, technical labs are located along the south edge of the facility.  Traditional classroom spaces, as well as computer and technology-oriented spaces are situated in the northern portion of the Center.  It's high tech, cutting edge and developed to meet regional workforce needs so students can "learn and then earn" in the Mid-Ohio Valley.