Named for Mike Rowe, who built a career on the dignity of skilled trades. Your hands are smart too.
One of the largest buildings on campus by square footage, the Mike Rowe Trades & Vocational Center sits on the east side of campus near the quarry and rail yard. Its industrial architecture — steel frame, high ceilings, roll-up bay doors, heavy ventilation — tells you exactly what happens inside. The building is organized vertically: you start in the basement with the foundations (electrical, plumbing, HVAC, welding) and rise to the roof for the capstones (solar, roofing systems, structural analysis from height).
It houses College XIII — Applied Trades & Skilled Labor. The infrastructure is designed around apprentices and the pedagogy around employment at scale. Dean One Chain — an Atlanta-based entrepreneur, philanthropist, and TRU Foundation founder — centers the building’s vision on a single principle: all labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance.
Heavy-duty 220V/440V electrical for welding and industrial gear, hydraulic lifts in the bays, compressed air throughout, fume extraction in welding bays and paint booths.
Tool cribs with a check-out system for student accountability, a parts storage and inventory system, and fleet vehicle parking and staging area.
An adjacent CDL training yard with a full-size commercial vehicle practice course, backing stations, and a DOT inspection area.
Jamie Paul’s domain — ten automotive bays on the ground floor, with manufacturer certification labs (Mercedes-Benz, Ford, GM, VW) and simulator stations above.
Mack Bulldog’s domain — the diesel garage wing, plus a campus fleet maintenance shop shared between the automotive and diesel divisions.
Electrical labs, plumbing simulators, HVAC mechanical rooms, and welding bays. You start underground — with the trades that hold everything else up.
No last name on file. Just Micro — the hardest-working human on campus. He knows which breaker to check before you call an electrician, and which HVAC unit hums differently in July.
The wing that teaches what happens after you master a trade — property management, building operations, code compliance, energy auditing, and civic-infrastructure coordination. Faculty anchor: KELPT SHOWNU P, who arrives by rusted Cybertruck and teaches property management not as bureaucracy but as keeping systems — and people — running under pressure they were never built for.
Electrical labs, plumbing simulators, HVAC mechanical rooms, welding bays. You start here.
Automotive bays, the diesel garage wing, and the shared campus fleet maintenance shop.
Classrooms, manufacturer cert labs, simulator stations, and CDL written-exam prep rooms.
Solar installation training, roofing systems lab, and structural analysis from height.
Full-size commercial vehicle course, backing stations, and a DOT inspection area.
Run the trades for real: service intervals, the campus fleet (ATV/UTVs, golf carts, tractors, mowers), and the job-kit checklist. Hosted by Micro from Building 21 next door, with the checklist run by our own diesel & automotive guys, Mac Bulldog & Jamie Paul.
The dean’s office, faculty, and the full trades program live here — the place where the next generation of electricians, plumbers, HVAC techs, diesel mechanics, and builders is trained. Scholarship pathways connect to the Scholarship Office in Building 16.
The browser labs that live here — each a working instrument, not a slideshow.
“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance.
Your hands are smart too.”