“Community college tends to be an engine to community development,” said DuBois. He attended a recent Virginia Foundation for Community College Education meeting at the Tides Inn in Irvington.

“It is the best place to go for retraining to change careers,” said DuBois. “Engineering and high tech opportunities start in community colleges.”

At one-third the cost of other colleges, students will save money by spending their first two years at the community college level, he said.

DuBois said VCCS already has career coaches in middle and high schools reaching out to students who would drop out or know little about the benefits of postsecondary education and have no intention of pursuing it. The aim is to show them that “12th grade is not the finish line” and higher education will open doors to greater opportunities and a better financial future for them and their community.

There is also the opportunity for high school students to dual enroll, enabling them to get a jump on college by entering with accumulated credits, he added.

In terms of attracting businesses to the area, Dubois said companies first look at the quality of a community’s workforce in making a decision on relocating. The college’s workforce development program starts by assessing the needs of area businesses and then offering training in those careers.

But bringing the college to town also requires community support.

“We’ve lost $100 million in state aid” while increasing enrollment at 23 community colleges throughout the state, DuBois said. “We must raise $550 million, accumulated over five years.”

DuBois said Rappahannock Community College president Dr. Elizabeth Crowther is the “captain of the ship” in the decision-making process for bringing the center to Kilmarnock. He compared the future Kilmarnock Center to a VCCS center at Culpeper and Germanna near Fredericksburg, which eventually became a full campus.

“Centers give birth to campuses,” he said. “You build a house by first digging the foundation.”