Last Friday, Delaware Technical and Community College officially became the latest tenant of the Nylon Shopping Center in Seaford with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“There are a lot of people who pushed in the same direction to get us here today,” said Delaware Tech President Mark Brainard, a Delaware Tech graduate who has served as president for the past 12 years.

This is a great day for Seaford, and it’s a great day for our community as a whole,” added Rep. Danny Short, who served as mayor when DuPont decided to downsize the plant in Seaford.

The Seaford Innovation Center is a satellite location that expands the college’s workforce development training programs into western Sussex County. Located in a 30,600-square-foot building, the new facility offers workforce development programming such as welding, HVAC, dental, phlebotomy, sterile processing, and certified nursing assistant training, as well as a flex industrial training space.

“The Seaford Innovation Center provides Delaware Tech with the opportunity to help more Delawareans gain the education and skills needed to meet the demands of the state’s workforce,” Brainard said. “We are grateful for the support of Delaware’s governors and General Assembly for their support of this project, which will enable residents of western Sussex County to take advantage of workforce training programs closer to home.”

Delaware Tech’s Innovation Center is the largest space within the Nylon Capital Center and occupies two stories. The first floor includes classrooms featuring state-of-the-art equipment and learning spaces that mimic the medical labs and offices in which graduates will work after completing their programs. The second floor includes additional classrooms, a conference room, an academic support area with computers and workstations, a lounge, and a Hy-Flex conference room with access to a kitchenette. The conference rooms are available to the public as rentals, and the college plans to offer dual enrollment classes for local high school students in the classrooms on the second floor in the future.

“This new Innovation Center reflects the college’s commitment to expanding access, strengthening community partnerships, and creating clear pathways for our students to achieve their career goals,” said Delaware Tech Executive Vice President Justina Thomas, a lifelong resident of the Seaford/Laurel area. “By offering both degree and non-degree programs, we are setting our students up for success while also meeting Delaware’s workforce needs.”

“It has been exciting and humbling to work on this project,” Thomas said. “It was really fun growing up here. I remember there were literal traffic jams during shift changes (at DuPont).”

The Innovation Center opened to students in June, offering a handful of workforce training programs and select STEM-focused summer camps. The full complement of programs began this fall and mirror the workforce training programs offered at the College’s Owens Campus in Georgetown.