After several months of construction, officials at Southern Connecticut State University on Friday morning celebrated the grand opening of its new School of Business building.
Workers finished the $52.4 million project in May. Hundreds attended the celebration, which included a formal ribbon cutting ceremony and tours of the new, four-story 60,000-square-foot building.
The project doubled the business school’s available space, and it was a key factor in SCSU’s successful bid earlier this year to get accreditation for its School of Business.
Faculty and staff were able to move into the building over the summer. SCSU students returned to campus for the fall semester in late August and have been able to start using the new facility.
At Friday’s event, Interim SCSU President Dwayne Smith said the new building features the latest technology and will help scholars’ growth and educational pursuits.
“We are equipping our scholars with the knowledge to become leaders in business and society,” Smith said.
Terrence Cheng, chancellor of Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, called it a “spectacular building” and an investment in students.
“Our students come from Connecticut, and most stay to work and impact Connecticut,” Cheng said. “You do incredible things here at Southern.”
According to Smith, about 85 percent of Southern graduates stay and live in Connecticut after they graduate.
The new building features nine general and specialized classrooms, lecture halls, a behavioral lab, a 100-seat community room, and an MBA program administrative suite. There is a dedicated space for financial market and data analytics, with Bloomberg terminals and monitors.
Students can use a Business Success Center to get help with career planning and job searches, and there is space for employers to conduct job interviews.
Construction on the facility, which is located at the intersection of Farnham and Wintergreen avenues, started in September 2021.
The new building is designed to be light and bright, with sustainability in mind. It is powered by nearby solar panels and geothermal wells for heating and cooling. It also uses smart lighting, with the lighting automatically dimming or brightening based on available sunlight. The building also has occupancy and vacancy sensors, and lights turn off automatically when a room remains unoccupied.
Jess Boronico, dean of the School of Business, has said he anticipates the new building will make SCSU more attractive to prospective business students who are deciding where they want to attend.
Previously, SCSU’s School of Business had been in a former student center building, which officials said was too small to accommodate all the space needed for business-related offices and classes.
On Friday, Boronico, whose background includes playing in a rock band, told the large gathered crowd, “As a rock and roller, I love a full house.”
“Thank you all for your support and belief in us,” he said.
