HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — A new workforce development center returns Hampton University to its vocational roots while paving the way forward.

The university cut the ribbon Wednesday on the new center, which will train students and others in valuable trades. That’s thanks to a $2 million grant obtained by Rep. Bobby Scott. For those looking to go the non-traditional college route, it’ll open opportunities for high-skilled and high-demand jobs.

The Workforce Development Enterprise program is spread across three locations — on Butler Farm Road is the Community Health and Vocational Center, the Center for Culinary Arts and Business Networking and the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship are around the corner on Eaton Street in downtown Hampton.

Officials say the program isn’t just for students. It’s also available to people “who maybe want to use it as a transition. Maybe they can’t afford the higher education experience at the time,” Hampton University President Darrell K. Williams said.

Hampton Roads is a hotbed for trades, but employers don’t see enough qualified applicants.

“My last job I was on, I was working for a contractor and we had 37 young welders come through,” said leading welding instructor Moi Cordell during a tour of the new facility. “Most of them didn’t even last three weeks because they didn’t know how to weld for the shipyard. They welded at a booth, they welded at a table. And they didn’t have an idea — you got to weld in the cold, you got to weld in the heat, you’ve got to weld with all this stuff in front of you. Sitting on pipes, leaning over tables, leaning up against this, leaning up against that. My thing is, I want to make you ready.”

Cordell said Virginia employs 10,000 welders and are actually in need of 5,000 at the moment.

“As a nation, by 2030, we’re going to be over 400,000 welders short,” Cordell said. “A lot of people have reservations about welding, especially when it comes to women because they think, ‘Oh, that’s a man’s world. No, women are actually the better welders overall because they have a better attention to detail, they’re more articulate in their hands and they actually put up a better looking and better overall weld in the end,” Cordell added.

University leaders say there is a dire need for this program.

“We have seen a growth, a shift in the mindset of what Hampton University should do and how it should serve the community,” said Dr. Glinda Evans, Workforce Development Enterprise executive director. “We have seen Hampton return back to its roots that it had before as the Hampton Normal Agricultural College.

In 1868, what was then called Hampton Normal Agricultural College helped educate newly freed African Americans post-Civil War. It combined academics with practical vocational training in agriculture, industrial arts and trades like carpentry and printing.

So really, Hampton University is looking to its past to better dictate the future.

“Today expands our commitment to the community,” Williams said, “while taking nothing away from the programs that we’ve always been known for.”