Western Nevada College will begin offering in-person classes in Fernley next month, establishing a small but meaningful presence inside the Victory Logistics District as the city’s industrial growth accelerates and employers continue asking whether the region can supply a trained workforce.
The first classs, Basic Electricity (ELM 110), will run April 6 to May 16 inside Mark IV Capital’s office building on Nevada Pacific Parkway. It will be paired with WNC’s mobile advanced-manufacturing lab, a fully equipped training trailer that can be staged inside the building’s warehouse space.
WNC President Dr. Kyle Dalpe said the move reflects both long-standing plans and the timing created by Fernley’s recent momentum.
“I’ve kind of watched this history unfold,” he said. “There’s this new impetus or this new kind of momentum moving now in Fernley, where we always thought Fernley would be a great feeder, a great place to have people live and then work in the industrial complex, but now we’re seeing the industry build up.”
WNC previously offered classes in Fernley at various sites, including the high school and a conference room at City Hall. The recession and later the pandemic pushed most instruction back to Carson City, Fallon, or online. High school dual-credit remained strong, but adult enrollment never returned.
Dalpe said the college has spent years trying to re-establish a presence. Before the pandemic, WNC evaluated property, but “it just wasn’t penciling out” and the college wasn’t sure which side of town would become the long-term hub.
“If we had bought on the south side of town and all of a sudden Mark IV shows up on the north side, then it’s like, wow, we’re on the wrong side,” he said.
Victory Logistics District now includes occupied buildings, newly built structures awaiting tenants, and undeveloped pads. The full build-out could take 10 to 15 years, and each new tenant brings different workforce needs. Dalpe said WNC is already tracking those developments.
“We’ve got boots on the ground up there,” he said, referring to shared office space with the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. Economic development groups often call WNC with early-stage inquiries from companies considering relocation.
“Sometimes we don’t even know who they are,” he said. “We give information because it’s all speculative, but just to say, you know, we can ramp up this program or we can ramp up that program.”
WNC serves about 4,000 students across six counties, including Lyon County. Fernley is the only major population center in the service area without a physical WNC presence. Dalpe said the city has reached a point where local instruction becomes viable.
“Fernley is kind of in a situation where there’s a critical mass of students,” he said. “I'm hoping someday we could get to something where we've got our own facility, like on that plot right there, and, you know, we have our own building where we can offer even more classes.”
Without local instruction, Dalpe said distance is a real barrier for some students. He noted that in Yerington, “it’s an hour and 15 minutes to the Carson campus, maybe an hour and a half if you get stuck behind a rig or an RV. That’s three hours round trip for one class time.”
Students want to learn where they live, he said. “If we could put something out there, then that makes sense.”
Advanced manufacturing, automation, and battery-recycling programs are a natural fit. “We’ve created a battery-recycling program,” Dalpe said. “It’s also things like there’s always a need for welding. There’s always a need for CDL drivers.”
And the curriculum is already built. “It’s not like, hey, we’ve got to start from scratch,” he said. “We’re not building a rocket science program.”
The first class will use Mark IV’s front conference room for lectures and WNC’s mobile advanced-manufacturing lab for hands-on work. The lab, a large trailer outfitted with PLC trainers, automation equipment, and portable suitcase trainers, can be parked inside the building’s warehouse through a roll-up door. Dalpe said the mobile lab allows WNC to start immediately.
“It’s a way to bring stuff out there without having to scale up a new lab right away,” he said.
Enrollment promotion is just beginning as WNC finalizes its MOU with Mark IV. “We’re going to start recruiting right away,” Dalpe said. “Hopefully we can get enough momentum on it.”
WNC plans to add additional courses in the fall, including Basic Electricity, Introduction to PLCs, Manufacturing Production Technology, Fundamentals of Manufacturing and Automation I and Fundamentals of Manufacturing and Automation II. CDL training is also likely.
“That’s another one that’s probably going to be offered out there because there’s a ton of logistics,” Dalpe said.
Because Victory Logistics District will continue evolving for more than a decade, WNC is preparing to adapt as new industries arrive.
“It all depends on what it is,” Dalpe said. HVAC, for example, would require more equipment, but “if it’s a big need, then we can do it.” Data-center needs are more straightforward.
“The computer piece we already have,” Dalpe said. “It is just like a classroom of laptops and maybe some server racks.”
As new businesses bring new needs and workers are looking for retraining and career shifts, Dalpe said WNC will be prepared. “We’re ready to pivot,” Dalpe said. “We’re ready to do what we need to do.”
Even large programs are possible if the need is real. “If somebody all of a sudden said, Fernley’s grown up so much, we need a nursing program out there, that would be like, okay, now we’ve got to put up another nursing program,” he said.
Dalpe said the workforce shortage in some fields is enormous. “If all of the community colleges put all of their students in advanced manufacturing in one bucket, we probably still could not meet the need,” he said. “We’re behind on the need, just like housing is behind on housing and roads are behind on roads.”
That’s why he sees Fernley as WNC’s “next big market.” “I’m hoping someday we could get to something where we’ve got our own facility,” he said.
For now, the partnership gives WNC a way to start small and grow with the community. “We’re going to see where it goes,” Dalpe said. “I’m feeling pretty good about it.”
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