Staff Writer

A technical college based in Puerto Rico and specializing in auto racing mechanics is preparing to open a new campus in Kissimmee.

Mech-Tech College is in the process of buying the 6.3-acre former Truck Heaven USA property at 2499 N. Orange Blossom Trail to house its new educational facilities, college President Edwin Colón Cosme told Kissimmee commissioners Tuesday. The school will offer eight technical associate degree programs and is scheduled to open late this year or the beginning of 2011.

Mech-Tech’s plans to move into Florida, which have been in the works for the last four years, didn’t always involve Kissimmee. Last January, Commissioner Art Otero learned of the college and its intentions to move into Orlando or Orange County and decided Kissimmee was a better location.

“I saw an opportunity for us,” Otero said.

Colón Cosme told commissioners that the college had paid $50,000 down on the purchase of the property, the price of which has decreased from $3.2 to $2.1 million in less than a year. The new campus will employ 15 faculty members along with 15 people in an administrative capacity and start with 300 students the first year.

“Thank God things are coming out well. I think that 300 students is very little compared to what the necessity will be in the future,” Colón Cosme said, giving Otero credit for eventually convincing him and other leaders to open Mech-Tech in Kissimmee. “He was insistent, like a jab, an uppercut: ‘You gotta be here. You’re needed.’”

The Kissimmee campus will be the first outside of Puerto Rico, which boasts seven Mech-Tech campuses already. The college maintains a racetrack and racing team as part of its auto mechanics research and development.

“Auto mechanics is our forte. That’s why our school is very famous,” Colón Cosme said.

In Puerto Rico, the school is involved in everything from drag racing to the development of electric cars and often competes in championships worldwide. On the Kissimmee campus, it will offer two diplomas in the field: racing mechanics and automotive mechanics with computerized fuel injection.

Aside from those, six other diploma-level programs will be offered: marine mechanics, industrial welding, diesel mechanics, tool and die making, industrial electricity and refrigeration and air conditioning. The 15-month programs, a total of 60 credits, will cost $17,130. The price is low enough to undercut competitors, charging around $30,000 for similar programs, as well as keeping students out of long-term debt, Colón Cosme said.

“We do not want our students to take any student loans, because we are trying to create entrepreneurs that can do their own businesses,” he said.

After the meeting, Colón Cosme showed city leaders YouTube videos of some

of Mech-Tech’s automotive accomplishments, including one of a four-cylinder vehicle going from zero to 200 mph in less than seven seconds. Competition is important to motivating students to reach their potential, Colón Cosme said, noting Mech-Tech’s reputation on the racetrack.

“There’s not any competition. We are the world champions, and we are the best,” Colón Cosme boasted. “If they want to prove the difference, we’re on the track waiting for them. That’s where we talk. Mechanics talk at the track.”

Colón Cosme said the college had long-term plans of partnering with Florida Hospital and incorporating a health division that would offer associate degrees in nursing and dental assisting. He also explained plans for creating a division that would offer GED diplomas, expressing a concern for the number of high school dropouts in the area.

City leaders were receptive of the new college. Aside from plans to invest an initial $5 million into the local community, Mech-Tech strives for an 85 percent job placement for its graduates, Colón Cosme said.

“Welcome to town,” Mayor Jim Swan said as the presentation concluded.