CANFIELD — The Mahoning County Career and Technical Center today will break ground on a new $7 million, 13,000-square-foot health and wellness facility.

The health and wellness center will be finished in August 2026, the same completion time frame for MCCTC’s $16 million, 35,000-square-foot technical education facility, said John Zehentbauer, the center’s superintendent.

“It’s exciting,” Zehentbauer said. “We’re very pleased, happy and thankful with the funding and the growth.”

Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel will participate in the groundbreaking ceremony.

The state announced on June 12, 2024, that MCCTC received a $5,030,814 grant from the Appalachian Community Innovation Centers Program for the health and wellness center. It happened to be the same day that the technical education facility had its groundbreaking ceremony.

In addition to the state grant, MCCTC is using about $2 million of its own funds for the health and wellness center, he said.

When completed, the center will provide outpatient mental and physical health services for those in the community through Cadence Care Network and Mercy Health, and a school-based health clinic for students and staff members, Zehentbauer said.

It also will be a health training facility for the Mahoning Valley, including for licensed practical nurses, paramedics and emergency medical technicians, he said. The Hannah E. Mullins School of Practical Nursing will relocate from Salem to the MCCTC campus in Canfield. When completed, the center will serve more than 6,500 people annually.

The technical education facility received $11.4 million in state funding in November 2023 as part of an effort to expand and modernize education and training facilities in Ohio.

The rest of the money for the $16 million project comes from MCCTC funds and in-kind donations.

When completed in August 2026, the facility will allow MCCTC to increase enrollment capacity in robotics and engineering, electricity and automated systems, computer networking and cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and software engineering, and welding and industrial maintenance.