Hutto ISD, EDC May Help Fund CART
To keep pace with the increased need for specialized, technical education, Hutto Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Polo Enriquez said a highly-evolved facility for training could fill the niche.

The training could be offered through a facility now in the planning stages - the Center for Advanced Research and Technology.

The center was initially proposed by Taylor ISD Superintendent Bruce Scott and it has received preliminary funding from the Taylor ISD and Taylor Economic Development Corporation.

The Hutto EDC and Hutto ISD also are being asked for financial support.

Enriquez said a similar project exists in Temple, the Texas Bioscience Institute, which will open its doors to about 100 high school students this fall. The students will earn dual high school and college credits while learning technical skills vital to the health care and nursing fields.

Enriquez said the City of Temple has contributed several million dollars to the project.

“The jewel is this building. They use it to train doctors and LVNs (licensed vocational nurses). It is state-of-the art and high tech. They have a real emergency room with mannequins,” Enriquez said.

He said there are six areas the HEDC has identified as desirable subjects of focus for a Central Texas center, but he said all of them cannot be addressed. He said healthcare is one thing that should not be ignored because more skilled workers will definitely be needed.

“It's obvious Seton and Scott & White are both building hospitals within close distance of Hutto and Taylor. They will not just be practitioners, but administrators, those people who have the skills to run a big business,” he said. “They are making enormous investments. Where are they going to get the right kind of people to work there?”

Another area of consideration is computer science. Enriquez said computer and robotics use will increase, and already in Hutto, firms such as A.R. Machining Inc. and PI-CO Precision Fabrication are described by him as “high tech and very computerized.”

“It's not the smokestacks of yesterday,” he said. “These are men and women working with computers.”

He said the transportation of goods and people will also be important, as will construction technology, which includes engineering and the maximum use of available land.

Enriquez said companies often look for areas with a workforce that is prepared to fill positions without spending time and money to train new employees.

“The focus is on the needs of the community,” he said.

To fund a study of planning and operating a CART on the eastern side of Williamson County, Enriquez said the cost would be $100,000. The Hutto Independent School District and HEDC are both considering donating $25,000 each, while the same entities in Taylor have already committed $50,000 of the costs.

“I believe both boards will match what the folks in Taylor did,” he said.

David Borrer, superintendent of the Hutto ISD, said the school system is exploring the Temple facility.

“I became familiar with it when I got here last summer. Our career and technology department is limited. We don't have a large program, as we're a smaller district,” he said. “Temple College did do a survey about what would possibly be a need. The survey did come back. The medical sciences have a very strong emphasis with our students.”

Borrer said a CART could be a “middle college for our high school students.” Some students could come out of high school with an associate's degree by studying at a CART.

He said the CART and $25,000 seed money are expected to be discussed during the June school board meeting.

“With $25,000 we'd be committing to the study, trying to get Dr. (Chuck) McCarter, to pay some of his salary to get grants. We need a lot of them, and hopefully, we'll get grants from the state,” Borrer said. “My recommendation is for us to become part of it.”

McCarter helped launch the Texas Biosciences Institute in Temple and has been hired to work part-time on the CART project.

The ultimate goal of the CART would lead to a well-trained force working in locations where good salaries are paid and long-distance commuting is not necessary.

“My mission is to create employment opportunities for people here, so they don't have to go to Austin to work,” Enriquez said.

Another one of his responsibilities is to draw new businesses to Hutto. He said a good workforce will most assuredly draw them.

“If you don't have the labor force, the decision is to go somewhere else,” he said.