RATHDRUM — The sound of drills and electric saws echoed through the empty, spacious building Friday while an important visitor looked around. North Idaho College’s new Career and Technical Education facility, a symbol of growth and new jobs, is almost complete.

And it’s getting a nice boost.

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced Friday it is awarding $1.38 million to NIC for new equipment in the CTE building. The grant was announced just hours before new NIC President Richard MacLennan toured the facility.

The building, which broke ground last June, will be home to many programs offered at NIC: Automotive Technology, Collision Repair Technology, Architectural and Mechanical Computer Aided Design Technology, Diesel Technology, Industrial Mechanical/Millwright Technology, Machining and CNC Technology Welding Technology and Mechatronics/Advanced Manufacturing.

“These are really relevant, valuable careers and jobs to get people pointed toward,” MacLennan said. “When people think about going to college, this isn’t what they think about, and look at the value we’re putting on that. This is going to attract people who wouldn’t otherwise be attracted to go to college, who might not think they’re going to college, until they visit NIC.”

The grant brings the NIC Foundation’s "Building the Future" capital campaign to $4.33 million of the $5 million goal.

The project’s total cost will be $20 million. The remaining $15 million is being paid by NIC’s capital funds for construction of the building itself.

The other $5 million will be used for new equipment as well as two funds: a new-equipment fund and a scholarship fund. Each of the funds will start with $1 million, which will be invested. The college expects each to generate $50,000 annually.

“We are going to have state-of-the-art equipment, so we can train everyone in the region for years to come,” said Chris Martin, NIC’s vice president for finance and business affairs. “I think that’s what we’re really excited about. This is affirmation from the federal government that ‘good things are happening in North Idaho, and we want to be a part of it, and we’re going to help support it.’”

The new CTE building itself is shaped like a “U.” It will have green space in the middle for student leisure and community events. One side of the building is dedicated to manufacturing- related classes and the other to automotive-related classes.

There are windows covering every wall of the building per the request of NIC students wanting natural light in their workspace. The windows will also allow visitors to watch students work, without having to wear a hard hat, safety goggles or closed-toed shoes.

The building is 110,000 square feet to make space for more students in each classroom and lab. The old building could only support 12 to 16 students per class. The new one: 24 per class.

Also, welding classes used to be held in a leased building off campus. Now they’ll take place in the same building as the other technical classes.

“There are jobs on the other side,” said Rayelle Anderson, NIC’s director of development. “We just need to get [students] in the program, through the program, and they’ll have jobs.”

The building takes up 10 of the 40 acres of its site, so additions can be made later.