Forest City, Then Charles City, Now Hampton to Open NIACC Career Center for High School Students

The newest North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) Career Academy is ready to launch.

NIACC officials are scheduled to host a grand opening ceremony for its new Career Center in Franklin County this Wednesday (07.08). The program begins at 11 AM at the center at 1276 Olive Avenue in Hampton. Doors open at 10:30 AM

The new facility is a partnership between NIACC and the Belmond-Klemme, Hampton-Dumont-CAL and West Fork school districts. It will give high school students a chance to earn college credentials while training for high-demand careers through hands-on education.

Speakers at Wednesday’s grand opening are to include NIACC President Joel Pederson and Valeria Gonzalez, Franklin County Career Center director at NIACC. Also to address attendees in West Fork Schools Superintendent Mike Kruger, plus Brian Wogen, NIACC’s director of school partnerships; Kim Price, CEO of Franklin General Hospital, and Doug Foreshore from Bergland + Cram Architecture. 

The new Career Academy in Hampton is the third such satellite center for NIACC. 

The Charles City Career Academy opened in August 2024, serving students in Charles City, Clarksville, Nashua-Plainfield, North Butler, Osage, Riceville, and Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock school districts.

The first NIACC Career Academy opened in Forest City in August 2021, a partnership involving the Forest City, Garner-Hayfield-Ventura, Lake Mills, and North Iowa school districts.