Flint Hills Technical College is moving forward with its Precision Agriculture facility while making short-term adjustments for its Commercial Driver’s License program.
The college’s Board of Trustees on Monday approved the purchase of around 10 acres at 615 Overlander from landowner Jeff Hawes. President Caron Daugherty says the property will benefit the recently-started Precision Agriculture and CDL programs, although it could take up to a year to get the property ready for students.
On KVOE’s Tech Talk program Tuesday, Daugherty says the new property will be 0.2 mile from the Welding Technology Center but has to be considered a separate campus due to accreditation processes. Current goals are to at least have some space ready for fall 2026.
Financial terms for the property are not being disclosed.
Besides benefiting Precision Ag, Executive Director of Business and Industry Corey Spikes says this will be a big help to a CDL program that already has a lot of student demand.
Spikes says there is a notable need for truck drivers regionally.
Also for the CDL program, the college has reached a memorandum of understanding to use the Tyson yard space at 2101 West Sixth while the city continues major improvements to Overlander Road between West Sixth and US Highway 50. The college’s CDL program has been parking at Bradford Feed in the 700 block of Overlander, and the college can’t do some of its training because of ongoing work to replace a nearly 100-year-old bridge currently unsuitable for modern truck traffic, install a new 12-inch water main and widen the street from two to three lanes, including curb, gutter and storm sewer. Work on Overlander will continue into summer 2026.
As far as movement towards a purchase of the Tyson plant after it announced its full closure a year ago, there is none. Tyson ended its local operations this past summer as part of a restructuring that included an emphasis on its Holcomb plant. The plant is up for sale.
Separately, with a maintenance facility now largely finished at the college’s main campus, Daugherty says the city will inspect the building for occupancy next week. This has been a key part of the college’s gradual move out of the Downtown Campus inside the Humanitarian Center, which continues with equipment removal and other minor touch-up repairs.
